


Black Bean Noodles

by carameljoon



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2019-10-12 03:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17459474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carameljoon/pseuds/carameljoon
Summary: An alternative universe where everything in our school life is almost still the same except a weird, cute boy became Science-One's new classmate, and he made their lives spiral out of control.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Skskskkskssk this is just for fun and a gift for my frens!! I hope international armys dont clown me for this... pls dont expose me 😭😭

Amal stared down at her unfinished Biology homework. She sighed - _it was more like a hopeless sigh_ \- and continued flicking the stack of worn out notes. She couldn't find the right key word, and she could hear Asqina let out a discontented groan at a distance. Then, a brief and faint slam afterwards.

Sabrina was there - sweeping and doing good as usual. She was probably the only one who took care of the classroom's cleanliness despite of how dirty it is. A perfectionist like her couldn't even stand a pen with a price tag still sticking on it. She gasped dramatically because she saw all the pens on the desk weren't arranged in rainbow colour order.

Ernie, she was reading the sixth Harry Potter franchise, probably the third time already. She skimmed through dramatic scenes over and over, _obviously skipping the part where Dumbledore dies_ , but now her mind had wandered off into space. Her hand reached down to grab her bottle and took a sip of her Macchiato. She scrunched her face at the overly concentrated tart taste. Something was off.

Meanwhile, Mei and Anis were bickering about Add Maths, on which working was simple enough and felt right to follow. They were always arguing early in the morning, and one of them must raise a white flag or they'd pull each other's tails. Masturina, she was either the spectator or the peacemaker - meaning that she'd end their debate by hitting each of their heads respectively. She had been doing this so that the common sense will magically jump out of them.

Hanif, that boy, the girls have known his overly close bond with those 11SC2 guys, so yes, they were used to his absence early in the morning. Everyone, everyone in the school was familiar with the name Hanif, he's very popular with his extrovert charms. He gets on people's nerves most of the time, especially the teachers - because of his poor mannerism. The girls, of course, were put off with his attitude, but all the time they wondered of what would have happened if he didn't choose to attend this crappy school in the first place.

Asqina pushed her glasses up and blinked as she glanced around the classroom. _'Everyone's so normal today, as usual, it's like the beginning of a videogame.'_

She pouted and went back to scribbling. It's going to be another long, boring day. Sabrina noticed the change in atmosphere. "What's up?" She asked her friend, placing the broom nearby.

Asqina looked up and shook her head. "Not much," She responded, while drawing clones of unsatisfying circles. A thought flashed into her mind as Sabrina retrieved the broom and went back to cleaning. "But honestly, do we have something going on today?"

Sabrina hummed, "We do."

Asqina stopped resting her jaw on her palm, swiftly setting her arm down. "Well, what're we having?"

"Let's see. English, Biology, Physics, M--"

"I mean, in terms of events."

"Oh." Sabrina paused. "Nope, our schedule is clear."

Asqina laid her head on her arm, sulking. "For the 5th week already? I thought the seniors deserve a bit of slacking during college entrance orientations or expeditious field-trips. Man, this school sucks."

"Well, you've been counting. Have you tried taking your mind off for a little by finishing your Maths homework, though?"

Asqina lowered her head, hiding her face. "Pass. Also, that's not considered relaxing. It's considered suffering. Now, I'm gonna be here and hibernate for a decade."

Sabrina scoffed as she heard Asqina let out a fake snore, "Whatever you say."

"Hey guys," said a honey-like voice, then a fairly loud thump on a hard surface which caused a very temporary vibration on the floor. "You all are acting as yourselves today! Typical Tuesday, I see."

_'More like every typical school day.'_

"Did you do your Bio homework, ebah?" Amal asked.

"Hm, I did," She responded, slumping on her chair. "But that doesn't mean I answered all the questions correctly."

Amal grinned, "Oh, good! Can I copy yours?"

"Alright," She began gliding the zipper of her backpack, causing a cringeworthy echo in the room. "Don't blame me for your low marks."

"It's fine, all I need is to get this done anyway."

In a scurry, Teacher Maimunah walked into the classroom a moment later. She plopped down onto the cushioned chair and lifted the cover of the attendance file. "Good morning class, now let's cut to the chase. Who isn't here yet?"

Sabrina looked around. "Fa--"

"Here," Azza informed breathlessly after she shouldered off her bag. It was as if she bolted through the crowded hallways and managed to get here in time. The girls gave her a wave.

"Okay, but where's Hanif?"

"The usual, he's hanging out in SC2's classroom." Sabrina replied. "Does he have duties to do?"

"Hanif needs to take out the trash, and have this desk get a little makeover. He needs to grab a new cloth from Teacher Masnoraini." Teacher Maimunah stated, reading out the message she received from Teacher Neny.

Sabrina stood up, "Oka--"

"Leave this to me, Sabrina." Naqibah chimed in, placing her hand on her shoulder. "I'll go and fetch him."

The whole class peered at the class representative who marched outside. She had only one objective in mind, but decided to go all out over it. Her classmates knew what was going to happen.

"She's gonna set his ass on fire," Amal whispered loudly, to which the girls giggled, except their homeroom teacher who was furrowing her eyebrows while scanning something on her phone screen.

Asqina, even though she often stares at literally anything with nothing going on in mind, she considered that her teacher's minor action was quite fishy.

She flinched, feeling herself getting pulled back to reality. _'Who am I kidding, there's not going to be even a tiny surprise for us today.'_

She continued on with sulking.

On cue, Hanif stomped into the classroom with his arms crossed - with Naqibah following him behind. He took a glance of betrayal at her, and instantly look away with his eyes shut. Looking at his most bitter expression, it was as if his mum took away his game console.

"Can't believe you humiliated me," Hanif muttered, his voice trembling.

"Enough with your drama queen act, Hanif." Naqibah snarled, "Do what I said just minutes ago."

He pouted and battered his eyelashes, almost too much, trying to radiate cuteness. That didn't convince Naqibah to rebuff her orders, but only driven her to give him a smack.

"Ow!" He yelped, clutching the back of his neck. The girls roared in laughter, and as you can see that Amal ended up on the floor. "Alright, alright! I'm on it."

With an audible gruff, Hanif went and grab for a new plastic bag at the back. He walked up towards the trash can that was jam-packed with junk.

"Hanif," Teacher Maimunah piped up, causing some girls to peek at her and others just minded their own business by rambling on about what they call 'theories', "Meet me at the main staffroom during break. We have a very significant topic to talk about for this class."

The class awed.

"Aye, aye, teacher!" He responded enthusiastically, then shrieked at the sudden appearance of a house lizard when he lightly shifted the bin aside.

Masturina and Anis approached him to help getting rid of the pesty animal as some onlookers were entertained watching them.

Sabrina gazed at their teacher, "Teacher, I'm just curious, what are you two going to discuss about?"

"Oh, it's nothing special. I just wanted to appoint him as a t-- I mean, the principal needs a plenty amount of manpower to manage lifting the furniture in the hall later."

Sabrina tapped her chin. "I see."

Asqina tilted her head at the not-so subtle slip-up, and was a bit shocked when absolutely and seemingly no-one noticed that. Overwhelmed of ideas popped up in her mind, she absent-mindedly looked down at her watch.

"Time for your first class," Teacher Maimunah stated as a matter-of-factly, and Sabrina was surprised that she kind of achieved collecting her stuff that was scattered all over the desk in time. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As her classmates were busy packing up, Sabrina gazed at their homeroom teacher who skedaddled to another classroom. She stood up and grab hold of her bulky books, sliding the chair under the table.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?" Asqina whispered, playing with the cover of her file as they both walked side-by-side.

"Hm. It's better not to butt in, but I think we have similar thoughts of possibly having something in store for all of us."

Asqina looked at the sky. "Please tell me it's gonna be food."

☆☆☆

The bombshell they were expecting didn't make its grand appearance sooner.

Here they were, moping and being all fretful while doing their usual work during Mathematics. The said job they were all simultaneously working on was, doing past year papers, and this was counted as one of their least favourite things to deal with. Nonetheless, they still had the priority to finish them all anyway.

Teacher Masnoraini definitely wasn't pleased, thinking this so-called high-ranked class was going to be all energetic and dutiful throughout the year. It had been almost a month already and yet, her students didn't make even a tiny shift when it comes to completing their work. Compared to their rivals, they were much more ambitious and hard-working, and their teachers would mention that oftentimes to make this class very pressed.

It couldn't be helped then.

Asqina's eyes were going to shut on its own as she was stuck with Mensuration questions. The others were still whining about the school's decision of not installing air-conditioners in the first place. Hanif couldn't bother to stop flattering about himself. Azza had her growing urge to shove his enourmous pencil case into his mouth just to shut him off.

Diligent Sabrina was skillfully scribbling down workings and underlining answers the whole time. Her hand was suddenly refrained from writing, because she had encountered with some sort of unfamiliar algebraic question. It was at the back of her head, she was pretty sure she had done this type before but hey, it wasn't too late to recall back.

The particular person she was asking for was strolling by her classmates' desks, observing their papers with a red pen in hand.

She tapped Asqina's desk, causing the latter to jolt awake. "Hanif, after all this chit-chat you were having, did you do all the questions on the first page?"

"Oh, I did, teacher!" Hanif chimed from across the room.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do the next one!"

"Mind if we get some discount, cher?"

Sabrina thought it was the precise time to raise her hand, and she did. Their teacher scowled at the request, but then her features softened when she saw Sabrina seemingly asking for guidance. She approached the student in a flash.

"Yes." She responded to Hanif before getting started, causing the nettlesome student to groan childishly. Teacher Mas observed the sentence thoroughly, squinting at the complexity. "Ah, this one is a rough gem. Come over to my desk and I'll explain the solution."

All of a sudden, the chatter was interrupted by a few knocks on the door. The entire class was suddenly hushed down as the Vice Principal appeared at the doorway. She was accompanied by... a tall figure.

"Who's that?" Ernie asked, and Naqibah strained her neck to get a better view of it. She shrugged. Hanif narrowed his eyes at the silhouette he was somehow recognised, and later they grew to its larger size.

"Excuse me Masnoraini," The VP said, her hand gesturing their teacher to come closer. The VP lowered her voice but it was enough for the curious class to hear, "There's an exchange student for your class here - but now I'm in a hurry because I'm going to attend the conference meeting. So you'll take it from here, alright?"

_An exchange student?_

Teacher Mas nodded at the order, and instantly, the VP ushered the new student to enter the classroom.

Wide eyes were seen and whispers heard were circulating around the room as the class looked at the new -- boy. He walked in so casually, standing in front of the whiteboard. His golden pecan eyes were large, forehead hiding under the messy bangs of his bronze hair. He looked even stylish than every boy in this school when he was wearing the typical school uniform.

_'Wow...'_

"Class, settle down." Teacher Mas looked at the new boy with a smile. "Introduce yourself, please."

"My name is Kim Taehyung," Kim Taehyung said, flashing his radiant grin at the awestruck students, "I am your classmate from today. I promise I'll work hard and I'll be happy to assist you if you need help. Please take care of me as well."

The class was taken aback when Kim Taehyung bowed, and continued to smile. No one said anything. As you can see that Naqibah was really amazed, Ernie wasn't even breathing, and Hanif was grinning like a psychopath.

"Okay Taehyung," Teacher Mas was still smiling, "You can sit anywhere, but preferably next to anyone, if you like."

"Thank you," He bowed again, now strolling nearby desks, all eyes were only on him, but somehow he shrugged it off with ease. Taehyung chuckled as he saw Hanif pointing at his empty neighbouring seat, and rushed over. Amal was there, immediately peering at the papers, pretending she was doing her work the whole time. It had been almost one minute and everyone couldn't take their eyes off Taehyung.

"Earth to 11SC1..." Teacher Mas called, cleared her throat and finally they snapped out of it. "Continue on your past years, please. Sabrina, wasn't there a question you wanted me to explain?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed and sprang out of the chair. "Ah, um, what was the question?"

Asqina looked up to see her best friend fumbled through her papers, heard her mumbling in distress, and it turned out what she was looking for was right in front of her eyes.

Asqina grabbed the sheet. "Is this it?"

Sabrina scanned the paper for a millisecond. "Yeah, thanks! I'm a bit clumsy today."

"Mmm," Asqina nodded, and went back wrapping up her past year paper. She glanced up again to see Sabrina rushing towards their teacher, but her hip ended up colliding with the edge of a table while on the way.

_'More like extremely clumsy...'_

Anis looked over of how was the new boy was doing and of course. Hanif happened to be sparking up a conversation with Taehyung, and they rambled about their lives on and on. Taehyung seemed like a very outgoing person - because it was surprising for a guy like him who can put up with Hanif for an extended period of time. Just look at him, laughing at every joke - no, word - that was coming out of Hanif's mouth. Amal was also having it, she snickered along with them, and the pen lost contact with her fingers for like minutes already.

"I thought Hanif was talking nonsense," Azza whispered.

"But we never expected to have a student to be our new classmate, right?" Mei responded, playing with her pen.

"Aren't you glad, though? About time we have another boy." Masturina asked, and the girls nodded in agreement.

Anis was gazing at her two classmates talking with Kim Taehyung, then looked down when Teacher Mas called, "Hanif, Amal, you're not distracting Taehyung from doing his exercise, are you?"

Hanif scoffed. "Of course not! We were just, uh, refreshing our minds on how to construct triangles."

"And discussions are essential." Amal added.

Teacher Mas sighed and Sabrina stiffened as she paced awkwardly beside her in one spot. "Right. Just help him solve any type of question he's struggling with."

"Okay teacher~~"

As the conversation ended, Anis chose to stare at the three again, but she was caught off guard when Taehyung gazed back at her with captivating eyes.

The contact's period of time felt like forever, because none of them didn't choose to look away. Taehyung's blank expression suddenly transitioned into a bright smile - then he instantly went back to work.

Anis' cheeks became warm, and warmer.


	2. Chapter 2

He had almost forgot he was supposed to have a mini meeting with his homeroom teacher.  
  
_'Ah, forgetting is a common word for me.'_  
  
Hanif was enjoying recess with his friends, while savouring a pleasantly cooked popular meal. He was also unknowingly eating away the minutes of available time he had. Here he was, currently bolting through the hallways and carefully not to crash into someone.  
  
He dashed up the stairs, and glanced down at his Daniel Wellington. He cursed under his breath, seeing that he had 10 minutes left. He tried to promise himself not to be the major cause of another teacher's outburst, but he reckoned that things just kind of happen.  
  
The door of the main staffroom was in front of him at last. Hanif panted as soon as he made his stop.  
  
_'Well, it's better late than never.'_  
  
He inhaled with such intensity and twisted the doorknob in a counter-clockwise direction.  
  
Hanif stepped into the room as the teachers passed and paced by, some were holding a bundle of papers and others were gossiping while munching on their tid-bits. As usual, they stayed unbothered everytime a student pops up.  
  
He searched around for Teacher Maimunah's desk and walked up to it. Hanif was only greeted by male student, his whole body almost literally took the available space in front of his teacher's desk. Beside this guy was a stack of medium-sized boxes present, both on his left and right. The guy was talking with his homeroom teacher, obviously for a while already, and all Hanif heard was information about this school.  
  
He stepped closer to eavesdrop, but only to get himself caught by his teacher. She peeked over, "Ah, Hanif! You're finally here."  
  
The said student scratched his nape. "Sorry for the inconvenience, teach!"  
  
The guy turned around to meet this Hanif boy, and the latter felt overwhelmed just by this unfamiliar student's height.  
  
_'This dude is freakishly tall! Psh, I'm just like, a few inches behind. He doesn't make me look short, right?'_  
  
The guy gave him a faint smile, "Hello!"  
  
"Oh, uh, what's up?" Hanif nervously responded, and chuckled it off. He cleared his throat, "Name's Hanif. Middle name is legendary. Nice to meet ya."  
  
The guy laughed as he shook Hanif's offered hand. "Mine is Taehyung. I don't have a middle name, but I guess that yours is a very good one so far."  
  
"Thank you for your appreciation!" Hanif exclaimed, and realised that they were still shaking hands. He released their grip and turned to his teacher, "Why am I here again?"  
  
"I need you to be his school tour guide for supposedly 20 minutes, but your time had been narrowed down to just..." She trailed off to peer at the clock. "9 minutes."  
  
Hanif did some minor stretching. "So, we have to get going then."  
  
"That's right, but you have to bring him back here one minute before breaktime ends." Teacher Maimunah elaborated, somehow sternly, "You have a class to attend, Hanif, remember that."  
  
"Roger that, teach." He replied, and grinned at Taehyung. "Shall we?"  
  
Taehyung beamed, and nodded in excitement.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
It was finally the end of the day. Well, almost, actually. They have just finished only two-thirds of their school duration. Next was Add Maths.  
  
The bell had rang, indicating that it was time for juniors to go home.  
  
Hanif didn't heard of the notification, because his mind blankly wandered off into space.  
  
"Hey," Ernie called, tapping his shoulder. "Why aren't you packing up?"  
  
"Don't worry yer, he had plans to stay here overnight." Naqibah answered sarcastically.  
  
Hanif whipped his head towards her direction, quickly gathering his stuff. "I don't know what's your problem with me."  
  
The fake upset tone in his voice made Naqibah huff, "Oh, it's nothing. Just wanted to tease you, like the way you always did to me."  
  
Hanif's the kind of person who often had the carefree blood flowing through his veins, so he couldn't help but simply shrug. "Well, whatever, I guess."  
  
Naqibah expected that she was going to get impacted by his comeback, but Hanif was somehow a tiny bit different today. As for the result, she frowned, but somewhat relieved.  
  
' _This guy...'_  
  
☆☆☆  
  
The new boy was following Hanif behind as they stepped outside. Most of the girls rushed out of the classroom to head down to the canteen. A couple of their classmates were still in the room, asking some sort of guidance for answering Trigonometric questions.  
  
Taehyung stayed silent while listening to Hanif's tips to play the piano. He nodded along, but his mind went completely somewhere else. He stared at the students scurrying towards the cafeteria, and pouted a little.  
  
He then felt Hanif stopped moving forward by his side.  
  
"Ah man," Hanif spoke up, peering down at his watch. "I have to leave. Got errands to run. Ciao, Taehyung!"  
  
Taehyung blinked in surprise and replied with a eager "bye". He was actually a bit crestfallen though, because now that the first person he befriended with had to leave. Talk about a guy who kept his frown upside down for just an hour.  
  
But the effect felt like it would last for years.  
  
Taehyung turned his head and watched Hanif strolling down the other side of the hallway. He paused, taking a deep breath and faced in front again. As soon as he stepped forward, he didn't expect to bump into someone. Which was his classmate.  
  
She was literally on the floor.  
  
"Ow," The girl mumbled, dusting off her forearm. Taehyung shook his head, and began to bend over.  
  
"I-I'm sorry," Taehyung said softly, offering his hand. The girl looked up with a confused expression on her face.  
  
She waved her hand dismissively. "It's okay, I can help myself."  
  
The girl staggered and finally stood up, leaving Taehyung to bend down again and retrieve her books. "Did I hurt you?"  
  
The girl shook her head and grabbed the books from his hands. "I'm perfectly fine, Taehyung. Thank you, though."  
  
"Ah, I was really careless... I should've watched where I was going."  
  
Her eyes widened. "No, no, I wasn't supposed to stand there... but it's fine, you didn't see me."  
  
Taehyung frowned a little. _'Was it really?'_  
  
"A-anyway, are you planning to go to the canteen? My friends and I are gonna have lunch there."  
  
Taehyung smiled. "Okay, I'll tag along!"  
  
He walked towards her, bouncing a little when he did, and grinned radiantly. The girl stiffened when Taehyung strolled beside her, going downstairs. "So what's your name?"  
  
Her lips stretched into minute but honest smile. "Naqibah."  
  
As the two departed, they didn't notice someone was eyeing them the whole time.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
Their journey to the canteen made the girls feel like they were trekking for decades. They even had the guts to spout about it to the architect who was responsible, but refused to do so anyway. From the juniors' perspective, they looked like starving tottering dogs or revolting rats who just came out of the rubbish bin.  
  
A couple of them had the decency to say it to their face, and in a millisecond they received a terrifying threat either from Amal, who seemingly looked like a sunshine when you first meet her. Or Naqibah, the said charming sweetheart could put on her gangster-themed jumpsuit in a flash just to scare off the so-called fearless kids who were being disrespectful.  
  
Let's just say that Mei's glare was the most effective. Silent, quick and deadly.  
  
They stopped doing that for today, because their current mood were slightly boosted up. Though, they were still protesting about the scorching weather roasting their skin especially during the endless noon. Thankfully, there were no students bothered to drop a negative comment about them - otherwise the girls would waste an ounce of their draining energy.  
  
The girls, or should I say all Year 11 students, thought the juniors must show their consideration for them. The perks of being seniors.  
  
Azza was fanning her face non-stop, "Almost there, guys. Our suffering will be over at last."  
  
Mei grunted in agony, "The queue is kind of filled with capacity. My temptation needs to be fed with food right away."  
  
"I'm suffocating here too, you know. You're not special," Anis hissed, wiping the sweat that was beading off her brow for countless times. To that, Mei gave her a slap sharp on the scapula.  
  
"Let's hope there's an empty spot for us," Masturina said, shielding her eyes from the illuminating sunlight. "We can rest for a bit until the crowd dies down."  
  
"Yeah, but my Omurice won't last long in stock." Anis muttered.  
  
"Mastur is right, I'm going to go and grab a table for us. Specifically under a fan." Amal stated before sprinting off.  
  
Mei sighed as they all motioned towards the cafeteria with sluggish steps. "Amal is such a blessing."  
  
As soon as the girls set foot into the open building, they scanned around to observe the scenery. Boisterous, grubby and cramped. Students were conversing with their mouth full, their baffling sentences made the others demand for a rephrase again and again. Some were messing up their food, until the point that the rich flavours would disappear because they would sent it off to somewhere. Somewhere you don't wanna know.  
  
Azza saw Amal's hand popping out from a further distance. "That table over there is ours. You guys can go and reserve it while Amal, Masturina and I get your orders."  
  
"Got it." Anis responded, and began walking with Mei.  
  
"Don't forget the sauce for me!" The latter added, and Azza replied with a thumbs-up sign.  
  
They watched her, Masturina and Amal disappear into the crowd after they sat and settled down.  
  
"And now we wait."  
  
☆☆☆  
  
Hanif was still walking down the deserted hallway.  
  
His speed was definitely leisurely, his mind was thinking about nothing else but deciding to attend Add Maths class. Hanif tried to ignore those thoughts, his plans this morning was to chillax and play video games, but now he felt down for not joining afternoon lessons.  
  
How odd.  
  
Hanif took a step foward. Then another. Then he took a step back, and again. He continued the chain by pacing back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.  
  
Hanif scratched his head a little bit too violently, squeezing his eyes shut - he was absolutely frustrated over picking a choice. It was either 'go back' or 'go home'. It seemed simple, yet it was extremely hard to make a decision because both options have pros and cons.  
  
He raked his fingers through his charcoal hair, his lips formed a small 'o' as he breathed out shakily. Hanif squinted at the congested parking lot, and juniors were still around.  
  
_'That's it. I'm heading home and nothing's gonna stop m--'_  
  
"Hanif?"  
  
He turned around and was puzzled. "Oh, hello Sabrina. What're you doing here?"  
  
The height of the papers from the ground Sabrina were clutching have decreased, because she let her hand down to grip on her hips. "I'm on my way to see Sir Mikal in the library. Are you planning to leave again?"  
  
_'No.'_ "Yeah, got something came up at my house and I gotta help my fam."  
  
Sabrina furrowed her eyebrows. "Really? Hanif, you've said the same reason over and over but did not further explain it. You ditched a lot of afternoon classes in the past few months and it made the teachers mad."  
  
Hanif always felt guilty, but didn't allow it to take over.  
  
_'She's right, but I'm not gonna change my mind.'_  
  
"I'm sorry Sabrina, I'm just gonna g--"  
  
"You have extra classes?" Hanif's younger sister repeated. Her brother and his friend were now focused on her, and noticed that she was standing near the pick-up and drop-off parking area. "Welp, I'll return home and tell mama about it. What time do you guys finish at?"  
  
Hanif's sister were peering at Sabrina when she asked that question. Sabrina flinched, "Ah, it's 2 o'clock."  
  
Hanif raised his eyebrows. "Hold o--"  
  
"Okay! Tata Hanif!" She exclaimed, skedaddling towards her car. The two friends watched the car immediately zoomed out of sight.  
  
"There goes my ride home," Hanif muttered, and inhaled sharply.  
  
Sabrina crossed her arms. "Too bad. Anyway, it's 10 minutes until 1. If you wanna get some refreshments," She pointed the canteen using her thumb, "Get it now."  
  
"No thanks," Hanif replied, patting his belly. "Still full from this morning's meal. It's not good to overload your stomach."  
  
Sabrina scoffed, and head towards the library's main entrance. "Right. Smell you later, Hanif."  
  
Right after the door was shut with an audible click, Hanif turned his heel and marched away, with only three purposes in mind.  
  
One; Drop off his bag and put his feet up until break is over. Two; try paying attention during class while doing work but remember to annoy the hell out of his classmates, especially Naqibah.  
  
Last but not least; talk to Taehyung.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
"Finally," Mei said just as Masturina placed a plate of fish and chips in front of her. She sighed and took out a fork, "Waiting for you guys was exhausting."  
  
Masturina and Anis sat beside her, left and right respectively. Amal was located across them, there was also Azza taking out a sandwich bag next to her.  
  
"The whole day had been so exhausting, for the record." Azza added, nibbling her tuna sandwich. "Can't wait to snuggle with my blankets."  
  
"I don't know about you guys," Anis said, slicing her favourite Omurice into fractions with a spoon. She shoved a spoonful of it into her mouth. "I'm honestly tired at the moment but I'm not even ready to go home."  
  
Amal stopped munching her soto to look at Anis expectantly. "Pretty sure this is about Taehyung, right?"  
  
Anis opened her mouth to protest but then felt her chewed omelette went down into the wrong pipe. She coughed out loud, causing the other students to stare at her.  
  
"Damn right it is," Masturina replied, giving Anis a bottle of water and she instantly took a swig of it. Masturina patted her back, then Anis swatted her hand away.  
  
"I gotta admit," Mei said, dipping her fry with ketchup. "That guy had been around for almost an hour, but he kind of taken our liking."  
  
"And what was related to Taehyung made you think of that?" Azza asked, and snaked her hand to stole a fry.  
  
"Obviously," Amal began, and the girls immediately gazed at her. It was as if she was a rookie who prepared a presentation and the supervisors have high expectations for her. "The way he smile at the time he introduced himself!"  
  
Masturina chewed on her veggies, and to Anis she was akin to a goat. "Is the word cute perfectly describes him?"  
  
"And fluffy!" Azza muffled.  
  
The girls all nodded, then Anis spoke up, "Let's add weird to the tags."  
  
Mei's expression went sour. "Weird? Why?"  
  
Anis brought a napkin close to her face, and rigorously wiped her lips. "No idea. He had this predatory stare shooting at me earlier. It was scary."  
  
Amal melodramatically rested her spoon against the ceramic bowl, but caused a cringeworthy high-pitched clack. "How is someone adorable like him scary?"  
  
Anis shrugged, "Hey, you can be both at the same time. Besides, the face he made wasn't that terrifying."  
  
"I bet Taehyung is a two in one guy." Masturina stated, looking down at her meal. _'Damn, no corns left.'_ "If he really is, then me likey."  
  
"Watch out Anis," Mei mumbled, taking a sip of her orange juice. "Mastur is on her way to steal Taehyung."  
  
"What? I didn't say anything about liking him." Anis looked at her with sheer digust.  
  
"But I didn't say any anything about you having a crush on him."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What."  
  
Masturina cleared her throat. "'M trying to eat here."  
  
"Hey guys," A familiar voice greeted, and it turned out to be Ernie. She slid the chair out of the table and plopped down.  
  
"Ernie! You're finally here." Amal said, manoeuvring the bowl of soto towards her direction. "Eat your foodie. Where's Ebah though?"  
  
"Hm," Ernie started to stir the noodles thoroughly, observing how droplets of soup drip down from the strands when she held it quite high with chopsticks. "They got halted by Teacher Irene."  
  
Azza raised an eyebrow. "They?"  
  
"Her and Taehyung," Ernie responded before slurping her soup audibly. "Never seen a new guy like him act normally and comfortably around unknown people before. They got along pretty well."  
  
"Told ya he's very confident and outgoing," Amal said, grinning, "He's like Hanif!"  
  
"But less irritating." The girls said in unison.  
  
They suddenly fell silent, until they heard tapping of footsteps approaching them. Mei caught a glimpse of two figures in her peripheral vision, and she chose to see who it is.  
  
Mei squinted, "Oh? Naqibah? and Taehyung?"  
  
' _Speaking of which.'_  
  
"About time," Amal said, somehow unfazed. She pointed at a some sort of creamy and steamy pasta. "Your carbonara is getting cold."  
  
A very soft gasp was heard. "Carbonara?"  
  
"Yeah, carbonara!" Azza restated, beaming, "There are also lamb skewers. Better hurry up before they get sold out..."  
  
"Ah, my favourite!" Taehyung exclaimed, his floaty voice was honey to their ears. "I'm gonna get it now."  
  
Amal smiled, "Want me to accompany you?"  
  
Taehyung shook his head. "I don't wanna interrupt your cozy feast, but could you save a seat for me?"  
  
Anis furrowed her eyebrows when she realised there were no space left. "Actually--"  
  
"Yes, we could." Masturina intervened after she stomped on Anis' foot.  
  
He grinned in return as he began walking away. "Thanks!"  
  
Just seconds after he left, Amal buried her face in her palms and let out a deafening coo. "He looks like a plushie. I wanna die now."  
  
Mei's mouth was flying open. "I'm speechless."  
  
Azza's back stopped becoming stiff, and she sighed longingly as she crumpled the sandwich plastic bag. "He said only 25 words. It made me choke on air but I didn't even say anything."  
  
Masturina stabbed the broccoli using a fork. "I very much admire this Taehyung guy. He's definitely welcomed."  
  
"I thought he already was welcomed."  
  
Ernie took a decent chair from another table, and the juniors located there peered at her. She giggled and looked at her best friend. "So how did you survive?"  
  
Naqibah laughed, "It was really challenging for me to chat with him. Just like everybody says, go with the flow."  
  
"The flow is extremely fast for me and you are all already smitten by him," Anis argued, and slammed her fist in order to make the girls come out of their reveries. "You guys jumped into conclusions. News flash, I don't like him!"  
  
They gasped.  
  
"You take that back, Anis Victoria." Mei hissed, threateningly pointing a fork at her.  
  
Amal was seen sobbing in the background as Naqibah patted her back and glared at her.  
  
"Nope," Anis responded, popping the p. "I don't find him that cute, and I think he's just acting generous to win our hearts over."  
  
"Anis is just jealous of how perfect he is," Masturina chortled, playfully shoving Anis' shoulder.  
  
"I'm not," She snarled, "You guys are blind, and I'm not falling for his cutesy act."  
  
"I'm gonna hold on to your words right there, Anis." Azza replied dryly, "It's never too late to change your mind, remember that!"  
  
Anis narrowed her eyes. "I won't."  
  
"I'm back!" Taehyung exclaimed in a glee, putting a bowl of ramen on the table. Ernie awed and praised his choice of meal. He was seated in the middle, and was near to Anis and Naqibah.  
  
"I thought you were aiming for the lamb," Azza said, twisting the lid of her bottle open.  
  
"I was," Taehyung retorted, resting his chin on his hand and the other was busy blending his ramen. "But then this guy whom I just met was craving for it so much than I do."  
  
"You gave it up for him?" Amal gasped, then letting out some sort of a wheezing sound that was annoying for Anis' ears. "Aw, what an angel you are! Am I correct, Anis?"  
  
Anis scoffed and she forcefully smiled, her lips trembling when she did. "Sure, Amal."  
  
"Right," Mei commented, gazing at the clock. "15 minutes until 1, guys. We better hurry up."  
  
"Savouring takes a lot of time, Sui Mei." Masturina responded, frantically swirling her cup of water. "That's literally a fact. Don't argue."  
  
Mei rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Spout another nonsense and that cup is going into your mouth." She beamed at the only person with a shocked expression, "Sorry for my profanity, Taehyung. She's trying to pull my hair again."  
  
Taehyung mouthed an "alright" and giggled in amusement after he witnessed the slight quarrel between the two. It hit him that they looked really close.  
  
_'Ah, they sound and look like my brothers back in my home country. To think about it, I miss them very much.'_  
  
Taehyung absent-mindedly smiled down at his ramen, and Anis scowled at the sight.  
  
_'What the hell is this cuckoo planning on now?'_  
  
☆☆☆  
  
Asqina was taking a nap when Hanif sneaked into the classroom. He pushed the door close with his ankle but the sound of a click was loud enough for her to rouse herself. She blinked repeatedly and began to sit upright.  
  
"Oop," Hanif muttered, placing his backpack on a desk, invisibly labelled as his. He sat and crossed his legs casually. "Morning! Sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep."  
  
Asqina rubbed her eyes, her hand snaked down to grab her water bottle. "It's fine. You were being my alarm clock just now."  
  
"You went to bed at 12 again, huh?" Hanif tossed a gum into his mouth. "Sleep is for everyone, you know. You need it."  
  
She stared at him with her mouth full, gradually letting the liquid flow down her throat.  
  
_'This hypocrite...'_  
  
"Thanksss for informing, heard that for the millionth time." Asqina retorted in a monotone, as she stapled her Add Maths classwork. Out of nowhere, her new classmate came into her mind.  
  
_'Taehyung looks admirable but peculiar. Only way to know him better is through someone I'm close with.'_  
  
She didn't like asking questions, but decided to have a go anyway. She needed someone's perspective of him, even if it wasn't that important.  
  
"Say," Asqina began, scribbling her name down on the paper. "You and Taehyung are close now. What do you think of him?"  
  
Hanif was a bit taken aback, but he was a kind of person who were always prepared for anything in interviews. "He's very cool. He laughs at my jokes, he loves being sarcastic - pretty much like me! He's nice too."  
  
Asqina had a straight face but inside she felt content. "Oh. You're glad to have another male student in this class, are you?"  
  
"Very delightful! I'm not the only boy here anymore." Hanif chuckled, "Finally, someone to depend on."  
  
That sentence rang in Asqina's head. _'Let me speculate. Having Taehyung as our new classmate will kind of... sort of... change everything. That's a good thing, right?'_  
  
The door swung open in an unforseen way, and it interrupted Asqina's deepening thoughts as the boy she was pondering about stepped into the room. He was followed by an array of girls who were making flattering remarks about him.  
  
Wait, the fangirls were her classmates.  
  
"You can sit at that one, Taehyung." Naqibah said, pointing at a huge desk fit for two. Hanif happened to be there.  
  
Taehyung beamed as soon as he saw Hanif. He came up to him and shook his hand. "Hanif! I thought you left early."  
  
Hanif placed his other hand on Taehyung's. He gave him a warm smile, "I would never leave my bro hanging!"  
  
Asqina glanced around in bewilderment and caressed her temple. Not long after that, Sabrina joined in and had a smooth, small talk with him.  
  
_'Did I read too much fanfiction until I got transferred into an alternate universe?'_

 


	3. Chapter 3

Amal couldn't stop grinning down at her plate of steaming chicken rice.  
  
Five minutes had passed. The fact that Amal only had the words _'Taehyung, Taehyung, Taehyung'_ in her mind might have added five more minutes of her staring contest with the chicken. She didn't blink at all.  
  
The extended period of silence made her brother really concerned. He pressed Amal's elbow with a glass of freezing orange juice, and bent over to see if she eventually snapped out of it. She didn't.  
  
" _What_ ," Her brother responded slowly, grimacing at her never-seen-before state. "The hell. Are you going to have dinner or not?"  
  
Amal stayed silent for a moment but then replied, "Two more minutes, please."  
  
"Amal," Her brother said sternly, crossing his arms. "You're letting your food get bad. Meals are eaten best at warm temperature."  
  
"I know that," Amal's hand reached out for cutlery, but never stopped smiling.  
  
"What happened to you? Did some boy got you head over heels? Again?"  
  
Amal's glance at him made the question was answered yes.  
  
"Yeesh, I hope it's not one of those annoying pretty boys again." Her brother said, walking away to get himself a plate.  
  
Amal felt her blood pumped up all the way to her head. "Well, he _is_ pretty, but not annoying."  
  
He scooped up the rice, rapidly waving the spoon upwards and downwards so that it would fall on his plate. "You said that before, and so far never denied it. In the end, I'm the right one anyway."  
  
Amal huffed, "As if I have the ability to take a peek at the future and see who he really is. You judge too quickly!"  
  
"And _you_ fall for boys too easily." He narrowed his eyes, but then sighed defeatedly. "Whatever, just munch on your meal first then we'll argue later."  
  
"You started the beef, but I'll be happy to see who turns out to be correct in the end." Amal muffled angrily.  
  
Her brother sneered, "You wouldn't be too happy if it was me."  
  
☆☆☆  
  
**》You:** Guys  
  
**》You:** Hav you finished that maths d past yr??  
  
**》Anis:** The 2014 p2 one?  
  
**》You:** Yeah  
  
**》Anis:** Almost there  
  
**》Mas:** How much is "almost there"?  
  
**》Anis:** Just 8 pages  
  
**》You:** Thats like the first half dumbass.........  
  
**》Anis:** Whatever. Did you even bother to do all?  
  
**》You:** No  
  
**》Anis:** Exactly. Stop being lazy and shit fgs  
  
**》You:** uhhh youre the one to talk... im like 6 pages ahead of you  
  
**》Mas:** I believe the trophy in tchr masnorainis' heart belongs to me bc I completed it, yall suck lol  
  
**》Anis:** right........  
  
**》You:** Mastur!!! can you help me???  
  
**》Mas:** did u mean: help u copy my work?  
  
**》You:** [Type your message here...]  
  
~~~  
  
The phone vibrated and let out a brief ringing sound that reached to every corner of the bedroom. Mei's thumbs stopped themselves from typing and one of them hit the backspace button. She scrolled down the status bar, hoping that it was not a message from her parents demanding her to do chores. Or, a repeating warning from her teachers about her results going downhill over the past few weeks.  
  
Mei's eyes widened at the notification because it happened out of the blue. Someone followed her on Instagram, and generally, Mei just shrug it off. She thought some crappy businessperson was going to promote their products by shoving them in her face.  
  
Of course, it wasn't some random businessperson.  
  
**[ IG: @kim_thyng** started following you. **]**  
  
Her heart was beating at a skyrocketing speed as soon as she scanned the username. Mei read it over and over just to make sure it was the same person she had in mind. She jumped when her device rang again, almost losing her grip when she felt her fingertips slide smoothly against the sides. Otherwise it would end up immersing itself in spicy but cheesy Nacho sauce.  
  
**[ IG: @kim_thyng:** Hi Sui Mei!! :) **]**  
  
Mei gasped loudly, causing her sister to jolt awake. She lifted her head, with eyes giving her a judgemental squint through the face mask. "Pipe! down! You wasted seconds in my supposed-to-be 8 hours of perfect sleep because of you and your irritating bell!"  
  
Mei just shot her a death glare, which made her sister plopped her head back into the fluffly pillow with a stressed sigh. With her nails lightly scratching against the case, Mei shifted her point of view back to the flashing screen. It made her wonder that if it was really her new classmate, Kim Taehyung.  
  
She finally made a decision to respond to his friendly greeting. As if someone would disguise themself as Kim Taehyung by using social media...  
  
Mei unconsciously tapped on the notification in a flash.  
  
_'Oh shit, I'm not ready--'_  
  
~~~  
**> > @kim_thyng:** Hi Sui Mei!! :)  
  
** >> @kim_thyng (just now):** Is this... the real Koo Sui Mei? :00  
  
**> > @kim_thyng (just now):** if its not then sorry for bothering you  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** hello Taehyung  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** yes its me :)  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** sorry for taking awhile to reply  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** oh!!! its fine :D  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** glad i found you on ig :))  
~~~  
  
_'Can't believe I typed that fast, but...'_  
  
Mei furrowed her eyebrows, staring intently at the screen.  
  
~~~  
**> > @ksm_55:** How did you find my account?  
  
** >> @kim_thyng:** easy!! I just typed your name out in the search bar  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** oh  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** did you follow our classmates too?  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** since i mixed up their names and forgot them, i didnt :(  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** yours is very easy to remember ^^  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** its fine, ill just send you the list of their usernames

  
**> > @ksm_55:** few of them dont make sense by the way

  
**> > @kim_thyng:** ok!! :D  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** here you go **[photo attached]**  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** oh! thankiess!! TT  
  
**> > @ksm_55:** youre welcome taehyung :)  
  
~~~  
  
**[ WhatsApp: Message from Mas @ iwouldliterallydieforyixing:** Sooo... you gonna need help or what?? **]**  
  
Mei let out an annoyed huff and rolled her eyes at the pop-up notification.  
  
~~~  
**> > @ksm_55:** I have to go now, bye  
  
**> > @kim_thyng:** bye sui mei! gn ^^  
~~~  
  
_'Okay, back to work.'_  
  
Mei suddenly caught a glimpse of Taehyung's profile picture. She gazed at it keenly, and the photo consisted of Taehyung's upper face with his wavy brunet bangs hiding his large bronze eyes. Slumping on top of his head, there was an adorable puppy in his tousled hair. The puppy looked drowsy, it definitely had an opportunity to sleep on its owner.  
  
_'Taehyung's puppy looks very cute... I'm going to take a look of his account now since I almost forgot to hit the follow back button! Plus, I need to see more pictures of his dog.'_  
  
And so Mei clicked on Taehyung's Instagram username. Her eyes were instantaneously bulging out, almost disconnecting from the socket.  
  
_'4... 495k followers?!'_  
  
Mei's jaw was on the floor.  
  
_'Is... is this real? Is this account even owned by Taehyung himself??'_  
  
Her pupils dropped down to peer at the posted photos. There were mostly potraits and candids of Taehyung, and others were just snapshots of nature's breathtaking sceneries or random stuff he stumbled upon anywhere he went. Mei couldn't help but awe at them, his whole account was oddly satisfying. It was apparently and clearly well-planned, in terms of colour-coding and sequence.  
  
_'I get why he has a lot of followers. Most of his pictures are in HD, and Taehyung's obviously got that photographic skills. And who could resist his pet puppy?'_  
  
Mei then saw the certain puppy she was searching for after scrolling down to the bottom, waiting for the page to load more pictures. Instantly, she clicked on the photo.

♡ **59,783 likes**  
**kim_thyng** good morning 🐶🌞  
_view all 9781 comments_  
**miyuhannie** yeontan!! uwu  
**amilah2004** ehehe gm tyt darling~ ❤  
**baekhyuneee** 내일 한가해? 😉  
[3 weeks ago]  
  
_'Baekhyun from EXO commented on one of his pictures?! What is this...Taehyung is not some sort of idol, is he? And how come that the kmedia or any EXO-L didn't cause a stir out of this??'_  
  
"Bing!"  
  
**[ WhatsApp: Message from Anis @ iwouldliterallydieforyixing:** girl is you dead?? **]**  
  
"Bing!"  
  
**[ WhatsApp: Message from Anis @ iwouldliterallydieforyixing:** do you even need mastur's help or nah?? **]**  
  
**[ WhatsApp: Message from Mas @ iwouldliterallydieforyixing:** shes not replyin so imma go... imma wait for ur response for another 3 secs anw ]  
  
"Bing!"  
  
**[ WhatsApp: Message from Mas @ iwouldliterallydieforyixing:** sui mei that was a 'take it or leave it' question, i know ure readinf dis, dont u dare ignore me  **]**  
  
Mei closed Instagram right after she followed Taehyung and she grunted in frustration when her sister casted a glare. She replied to her friends nonchalantly but furiously, and received a couple of mischievous comments with sarcasm. They absolutely didn't know the meaning of patience, and to prevent herself from fuming, Mei sighed deeply.  
  
_'Hmm. I'm going to stalk Taehyung's account later after I got my homework done. Let's just hope that I wasn't too hypnotised by his puppy while I'm at it. Its name is Yeontan, right? How cute...'_  
  
Mei continued what she was supposed to be working on, as she bit onto the crispy Nacho while scanning the paper closely.  
  
It was unknown of how did Mei get the miracle or long-lasting good luck. She managed to find the solutions of remaining questions, thanks to Masturina's "assistance".  
  
Instead of Taehyung roaming endlessly around in her mind, it was his puppy.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
The next school morning was as normal as yesterday. Juniors were seen chasing each other's tails. Teachers were seen struggling to carry their hefty bags filled with pricey electronic devices or textbooks defaced by cartoon stickers and blinding highlighters. As for the background sounds; chirping birds, chattering of students, and chortling or panicking janitors were heard.  
  
This time it was followed by Azza's deafening shriek.  
  
"What?!" The girls chorused, each of their expressions were glazed with concern or curiosity, somewhere in between. Their psyched-up eyes were focusing at Azza with utter attention.  
  
Azza rushed over to sit at their grouped tables, shouldering off her backpack first eagerly. "Taehyung followed me on Instagram last night!"  
  
"Oh my god, we were talking about that just now!" Naqibah responded, playfully giving Azza's shoulder a very gentle jostle. "He followed the rest of us too!"  
  
"It's still a mystery of how did he find out that those accounts were actually us," Ernie said, blowing on her coffee's surface and watched how the steam wafted away into the atmosphere. "I own a fan account but he knew it was me."  
  
Azza tapped on her chin. "Didn't he ask who you really were? That happened to me. I think... that's because he was just trying to clarify."  
  
"Yes, yes he did. The way he questioned me was adorable too." Ernie retorted, calmly sipping her coffee.  
  
Amal slammed her palms onto her desk aggressively yet melodramatically, and wheezed.  
  
"Amal is infatuated," Masturina commented with an unaffected expression.  
  
All this ridiculousness made that particular someone infuriated.  
  
"I have no doubt that he's an attention seeker," Anis casually responded, and placed one of her legs on top of the other. "There he went again. Why couldn't he just be himself everytime he talks to us?"  
  
"Uh, why couldn't _you_ accept the fact that Taehyung's personality is naturally bright?" Masturina replied, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Anis sounds like she haven't met someone like him. She's basically an epitome of a white blood cell, because she would fight a foreign substance."  
  
"Shut up!" Anis snapped, "I'm not a useless blood cell!"  
  
"White blood cells are in fact, useful."  
  
"Guys, guys. Settle down, nis." Naqibah intervened when she saw Anis rolling up her sleeve. "Anyway, if he knew those accounts were us, someone in this class probably gave our usernames to him."  
  
Ernie crossed her arms, "But, who was it? We didn't even discuss anything related to social media yesterday."  
  
"Hanif was behind this, I'm pretty sure of that."  
  
"Morning," Mei greeted, dropping her tote bag onto the table and took a seat. She was quiet for a moment and realised that her friends were staring at her. "What are you looking at?"  
  
"You're smiley," Masturina said, squinting. "That's really off-putting."  
  
"Yeah, why not?" Mei replied, and seconds after that she sensed something different. "I get it, you guys were talking about Taehyung's Instagram, right?"  
  
"How did y--"  
  
"I was the one who gave your usernames to him," Mei cut off Amal, "He requested them, so I was like, okay."  
  
Silence.  
  
"I don't know," Naqibah began, "I don't know whether I should be thankful or feel betrayed."  
  
"Taehyung jumbled up your names, that's why he messaged me directly." Mei responded, smiling. "Please, don't make that as some sort of delusional nonsense."  
  
"We won't!" Azza replied hastily, "But seriously, I thought Hanif was the culprit."  
  
"Why would you consider someone who gave Taehyung our real Instagram accounts a 'culprit'?" Amal smirked at Mei, to which she raised her eyebrows. "I'd say this lady was doing a really great job. Kudos to you!"  
  
"You're welcome," Mei proudly bowed, and Anis rolled her eyes as they laughed.  
  
"Sui Mei doing a favour for us? Now that's an angel move. She's still a devil to me however." And to that Masturina got elbowed right on her hip.  
  
"You guys saw that he has like," There was a pause because Ernie gulped down her drink. "A thousand times more followers than we all have combined? I didn't trust that account at first."  
  
"Yup. I knew at first sight he was popular, but I didn't know he was _that_ popular."  
  
The girls all nodded at Naqibah's statement, but well, except for Anis.  
  
Amal flailed her arms, "Of course, what are his looks for? He's very, very cute and handsome at the same time! I can't wait for Taehyung to take me out!"  
  
"I'm sorry, take who out?"  
  
They all jumped at the sudden presence of a soft voice behind them, and immediately turned around to see who it was.  
  
Sabrina was standing there with her friends' classwork books in hand and she seemed confused as hell. Asqina was already in her chair while rolling a tiny torn sheet then put it in between her lips, depicting it as a cigarette.  
  
The girls shot a 'say-something' stare at Amal, and the said person stuttered.  
  
"I-I mean," Amal started, laying her arms down and grinned nervously. "Take me out as in, murder me! I want to see Taehyung playing the role as a villain and stab me in a horror film!"  
  
Sabrina cocked an eyebrow.  
  
Ernie was taken aback. _'Goodness, what kind of excuse is that?'_  
  
"Since I took drama in middle school, I think Taehyung would nail it." Amal added, "Trust me, I've got it in my veins."  
  
"Okay," was all Sabrina said after a few seconds, and she placed the stack of books on the desk. "Here are your Maths classwork books, by the way. Teacher Mas said to recheck and redo it for those who got a yellow sticky note on the cover."  
  
"Thanks Sabrina!" Naqibah beamed while passing the books around, and Mei groaned right after she received hers.  
  
"Amal," Sabrina called, and she looked up. "That was a pretty good excuse. I'm going to rate it 9 over 10. You need to make it more convincing next time!"  
  
The girls burst into an uproarious laughter, and Amal was left with her mouth flying open. It was definitely very rare for Sabrina to roast anyone, but as usual, she simply apologised and walked away.  
  
"It was so lame that she gave your excuse a high-rating," Ernie giggled, closing her book.  
  
Naqibah snickered, "If it was me I would rate it negative infinity."  
  
Amal wanted to annihilate both of them but then saw two recognisable figures strolling by the windows. The shorter guy with disheveled charcoal hair motioned forward like a hurried cat-walking model, so Amal could tell that was Hanif. It was impossible to register someone's general movements if you only knew them in just one day, but Amal confidently identified that taller boy was Taehyung.  
  
"Taehyung and Hanif are coming! Quick, be normal!!" Azza shouted but whispered at the same time.  
  
The girls who huddled in a single spot were now scrambling to sit at their respective desks. Some of them skimmed through textbooks or notes to do yesterday's unresolved homework, and others continued having joyous conversations with one another. The girls typically start off their day with those routines, surely Taehyung wouldn't sense anything weird.  
  
The girls felt themselves holding their breath as soon as Taehyung stepped inside. Masturina thought his extended silence was him observing the crappy classroom. In the corner of her eyes, she could see that his head was facing in a northeast direction. It looked like he caught sight of the colourful posters developed by juniors.  
  
"Make yourself at home!" Hanif exclaimed, grinning, and eventually Taehyung reciprocated his action. "Well, I mean at class. I know, this room is not as beautiful as my fellow classmates."  
  
The girls glared at him, and Taehyung softly chuckled. They gave him warm smiles and pleasant welcomes.  
  
"I think this room is in my standards because it's actually decent to me," Taehyung responded, playing with the dog-themed keychains hanging at the strap. "I'm used to anything, so I don't really mind seeing something odd pop up all of a sudden."  
  
"Great!" Hanif patted Taehyung on the back, and peered at every single desk that was not reserved. "You need a good seat though, and I'm going to leave for you to decide."  
  
Hanif placed his bag on some random table with Sabrina nearby just as Taehyung nodded. Hanif was akin to a cat, because now he was away to a short journey somewhere right after he dropped off his posession. Now the girls had to retrieve him while was mingling with another pack of animals when duty calls.  
  
"I'm gonna see my bros, catch ya later Taehyung!" Exclaimed Hanif while he was on his way outside. "You wanna meet them? They'll be  _really_ happy to finally meet you in person!"  
  
Taehyung waved his hand. "No thanks. I've got some papers to deal with."  
  
"Suit yourself! Oh and also, keep me posted if you got interested in any girl in this class _or_ around this school here."  
  
Hanif winked and Taehyung laughed, almost too forcefully. He chose to take a glance at them, admiring how they were thoroughly working on their work without procrastinating. He wanted to learn from them as a foreign exchange student.  
  
What they were doing right this moment was the exact opposite.  
  
Naqibah, Ernie and along with Amal have seen a slight movement nearby. They heard a chair beside them being pulled back, cringing at the sound when its feet grinded with the floor. The three felt both jumpy and enthusiastic to begin a chat with Taehyung again.  
  
The prolonged silence made this present situation very awkward even though they had a cheery conversation yesterday. The three regarded they were being a little clingy to Taehyung, but it was not too late to adjust their social impressions a bit. To that, Ernie spoke up before it got really awkward.  
  
"Hey Taehyung! didn't notice you were looking at us the whole time. Need us to lend you a hand?"  
  
He hummed. "I think I could manage answering Trigonometric on my own."  
  
Naqibah's and Amal's mood went down at that response.  
  
"But, locus confuses me a lot."  
  
Amal sprang up, "I can help! Where is it, what is the question??"  
  
Naqibah stood up as well, "Let me join in, who knows the question is too tricky?"  
  
"Okay, okay," Azza chimed in, holding a couple of sheets. "That type of subtopic reminds me of a maze, but I often find a way out of it!"  
  
"Don't leave us unattended, sissies. I have trouble with locus too." Masturina said, and Mei nodded as they approached their table.  
  
"Ahh, this one." Naqibah muttered, gazing closely at the said question. Taehyung blinked rapidly to see that he was completely surrounded. "Um, you guys have any idea to solve this?"  
  
They all shook their heads.  
  
Amal peeked over. "Anis?"  
  
"No. D.I.Y."  
  
Mei looked at her right. "Sabrina?"  
  
The said girl instantaneously rose up from her seat, clicking her mechanical pencil. "On it."  
  
Asqina was watching them from afar while she was chewing on some cherry peppermint candy. The group erupted from some kind of determined deliberation, to cacophonous chatter - according to her analysis-turned-summarisation. The period of discussion lasted for a lengthy amount of time, because mainly they were... fooling around. She couldn't tell that Taehyung actually grasp their solution, because at the moment he seemed to thoughtlessly nod along everytime any word was vocalised.  
  
Anis was somewhat enraged, but successfully pulled her cloudburst down.  
  
_'He looks clueless but I'm still not gonna help that newbie.'_  
  
Asqina squinted at both contrasting scenes as she absorbed all the cherry flavour slowly.  
  
_'Damn, this intense duality though. Just came out straight from a high school angst fanfiction or some retro chick-flick movie.'_  
  
☆☆☆  
  
Taehyung couldn't wait for recess, and now it was down to one minute before the bell rang. He had eagerly hopped over to Hanif when it did, and poked the boy who was absent-mindedly fidgeting with his geometry set.  
  
"You're heading down to the canteen?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm starving!"  
  
"Hanif, the attendance file?" asked Sabrina expectantly, who was busy altering her pencil case arrangement.  
  
"Oh, just a second!"  
  
Right after Hanif retrieved the file from Sir Mikal, they began strolling off towards their destination. The girls dispersed into pairs, with different purposes in mind.  
  
The boys heard the sound of multiple footsteps approaching were getting louder. According to the weight and speed, it turned out to be...  
  
"Waw, look who joined the party!"  
  
Taehyung tilted his head and hummed, "Your names are... Fatimah and Anees?"  
  
She grinned, "Correct, but I prefer Azza because it's short and simple to remember."  
  
"Got it. Azza." Taehyung beamed, and his eyes fell on Anis. "And I assume I got yours correct as well!"  
  
She scoffed under her breath, "I beg your pardon, it's actually pronounced Aa-nis. Not Ay-knees."  
  
"Oh, apologies." Taehyung blinked twice at first, then subtly winked without the other two noticing. "Anis."  
  
Anis gasped mentally and curled her fist, _'Masturina was right!! I was right!! This little shit, I'm going to--'_  
  
"By the way," Azza intervened, and her arm unintentionally blocked Anis' way in order to prevent her from punching him on the face. "Since you followed us on IG last night, want me to create a group with most of us in it on there?"  
  
"Sure! but if we're chatting twenty-four seven, you might just have to add me into your existing whatsapp group. It's more convenient."  
  
"Big problem," Hanif chimed in, "We don't have your digits."  
  
Taehyung pursed his lips. "I gave it to you yesterday, did I?"  
  
Hanif's mouth fell open. "I feel like you did, and I might have misplaced it. Sorry."  
  
Taehyung hesitantly fished out a folded small paper in his breast pocket, then handed it over to Azza. "Here you go, don't let it slip out of your fingertips!"  
  
"I won't. Besides, I'm not that clumsy."  
  
Hanif frowned when Azza nudged him.  
  
"So are we going or not?" Anis muttered.  
  
"Anis is right, we don't wanna miss out on savouring your favourite meal, do you?"  
  
"I don't mind about what's in store though," Taehyung looped his arm around Hanif's shoulders, and Azza bolted forward to match their walking pace. "Alright. Off we go to wonderland!"  
  
They chuckled at Taehyung's bubbly gesture, grinning from ear to ear listening to his unfamiliar tales. Anis observed them and strayed for a moment, and then when Hanif broke into laughter, Taehyung glanced back at her. Anis widened her eyes.  
  
That one expression of his striked again, but this time it gave off something more strange.  
  
Dark, Anis merely thought.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
"There are a lot of cute kiddies running around!" Taehyung squealed and covered his cheeks, nails gripping on the hem of his sleeves. They watched juniors smothering ketchup on each other.  
  
"They are middle schoolers, also known as _old babies._ " Corrected by a pissed off voice behind him.  
  
"I didn't realise I was this small when I first attended secondary school," Azza said as they lined up at the queue and noticed that the canteen was bustling. "Our senior year is going to end and it doesn't feel like half a decade..."  
  
"Damn, I feel old," Hanif responded from the other side, and he turned to Taehyung who was looking at further back at the cafeteria. "What kinda hot stuff are your eyes laying on, Taehyung?"  
  
He sideway glanced at Hanif and his smile grew wider, "Nothing, just those juniors over there!"  
  
Taehyung pointed at some younger girls at the corner who were seemingly in a middle of a dance practice. The shortest one, clearly their leader, was criticising their poor foot purchase and synchronisation. Her high pitched voice during her scolding could be heard and it bounced off the wall.  
  
"I  _am_ _not_ gonna sign my name to join that club," Anis remarked, while penetrating her way through departing students along with Azza.  
  
"I didn't know your school has a dancing club as well!" Taehyung gleamed, gripping on Hanif's shoulders. "Their choreography looks interesting."  
  
"Yeah, they focus more on traditional dancing. International ones are welcomed, but just a specific amount of dancers so they don't outweigh the locals." Azza said, as a matter-of-factly. "Heard that they also practised two hours after school during weekdays. They have to compete with other schools or even have the opportunity to perform in front of His Majesty this year."  
  
"That's amazing! I mean, they looked like they've poured their hearts out on the upcoming performance. I wanna watch one of them someday."  
  
"Lucky for you, everyone's anticipating the school's talent show in two weeks." Hanif retorted, tapping Taehyung's fingers and directing him towards the stall. "Saw the list of the lineup and I know it's gonna be fantastic."  
  
"Ooh, can't wait!" Taehyung shivered in excitement and laid his eyes on the food prepared in front of them. He smiled softly at the flustered vendor who had an excited grin on her face, "I'll have the chicken rice and apple juice, please."  
  
"Coming right up!" was all she said before her workmates all rummaged through clean containers and shiny cutlery on the stacked table. The vendor whipped up his meal, and Anis could see the gravy was really glossy and the chicken thigh itself looked crunchy because it was coated with multi-spiced breadcrumbs. It was wrong to judge by looks, but she regarded the chicken have been immersed in the scorching oil, deep frying itself into perfection. The carrots and cucumbers on the side dish looked fresh too!  
  
And apple juice? poured into a plastic cup with a golden straw. A golden-coloured straw! What kind of petty discrimination was this?  
  
"Thank you," Taehyung said after he received his five-star meal. He attempted to give two dollar bills to the lady, and she shook her head in dismissal.  
  
"It's on the house for you today, keep it!" She exclaimed, and then took out a bag of lamb skewers. "And here, we know you were eyeing on these yesterday."  
  
Taehyung gasped as he grasped the sticks. "Are you sure you don't want me to pay anything?"  
  
"It's alright! Just enjoy your meal."  
  
"Thank you so much," He said again, making his way through the crowd and beamed, "Have a good day!"  
  
The food vendors all turned to each other and fangirled of how good-looking and generous Taehyung was. They neglected the waving dollar bills and waiting students for two solid minutes. Anis was relieved when the vendors were finally back into service right after they came to their senses, but endlessly and mentally complained when one of them treated her like a stray cat in the streets.  
  
☆☆☆  
  
"Took you long enough," Azza noted when Anis finally came out with both of her hands occupied. She gave her a disappointed look.  
  
"Right, let's gooo!" Hanif exclaimed, and Taehyung began walking off.  
  
"Wait, why aren't you hanging out with those boyfriends of yours anymore?" Anis asked, in a suspicious and somewhat mad tone.  
  
"Psh, people have business to deal with, Anis." Hanif replied mockingly, "They're all busy, and I decided to not bother them."  
  
"Woah, never seen you chose to not invade their space for the first time. What's with the change of heart?" Azza laughed.  
  
Hanif crossed his arms, "Whatever, I'm still me. We're seeing them tomorrow afternoon anyway. Taehyung, let's--"  
  
Hanif noticed that Taehyung was approaching the dance club. The three trailed him from behind and studied at the scenery. Their corner was surrounded by onlookers, mostly seniors, who were cheering on at the dancers across them.  
  
They were having a dance-off.  
  
"You lose," The leader said after she was announced the winner, and pointed at the girl who collapsed onto the floor. She was panting and sweating, then her friends emerged to drag her away and fanned her. "So, who's next?"  
  
The audience shrinked and backed off, no one could participate, knowing well that they would lose and be humiliated. Hanif felt the person beside him stepped forward, and he raised his hand.  
  
"I am," Taehyung said, and smiled. Whispers were erupted from the bystanders as they were surprised by his brave actions. He lended his bag to Hanif.  
  
"Taehyung?!" Azza and Hanif chorused. Anis scoffed.  
  
The leader looked at him up and down. Her frown transitioned into a smirk, "Let's see what you got."  
  
They distanced from each other and adjusted their positions. Taehyung did some stretching, and the leader casually cracked her boney fingers - more like every bone in her body. Azza glanced at them back and forth, Hanif was breathing aggressively and Anis murmured angrily because she just wanted to eat.  
  
Taehyung squinted at the short girl before him intensely. Her grin only grew broader, and more sinister.  
  
"Damia," She said, while staring at Taehyung. "Music, please."


	4. Chapter 4

 

He peered outside, observing how flight attendants scrambled from every one corner to the next.

 

 _‘Breathe in,_ _breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Bre--’_

 

“Taehyungie.”

 

A hand was gripping his shoulder. Slightly startled, he whipped around just to see his eldest hyung smiling fondly. Taehyung mirrored his expression, but then felt a tear streaming down his cheek.

 

Without hesitation, the man before him stepped forward and securely encircled Taehyung with his arms. The latter buried his face against his shoulder, as more tears uncontrollably resurfaced. His hyung rubbed Taehyung's back with comforting circles, and eyes were glassy too.

 

Taehyung motioned backwards, grabbing his hyung's hands which were firmly holding onto the shoulder blades. His hyung fished out a napkin and thoroughly wiped his dongsaeng's damp cheeks. Feebly, Taehyung managed to quirk up his signature boxy grin.

 

His hyung reciprocated the small action. “Taehyungie, be sure that we are always be there for you.”

 

The said boy paused and gazed at his shoes. “Not physically, Seokjin-hyung. I'm gonna be sad just thinking of you guys.”

  
Seokjin reached out and ruffled his dongsaeng's hair. “Don't be. You can miss us as much as you want, but try to prevent yourself from being deeply forlorn too often. Focus on the present. Your future is out there, Taehyungie. Live your moment.”

 

Taehyung instantaneously hugged Seokjin again, even more bear-like this time. He let out several sobs, but composed himself in a flash. They heard the speakers voiced out an announcement.

 

“This is it,” Taehyung murmured, hastily dusting himself off. His fingers shakily tried to neatly brush his wavy bangs aside, but suddenly halted by Seokjin. “Uh, do I look alright?”

 

“Please, you look handsome as always! but I still hold the ‘worldwide handsome’ title.” Seokjin flaunted, flipping his hair - which made his dongsaeng chuckle. He clasped Taehyung's upper arms. “You're going to be perfectly okay on your own. I assure you.”

 

Taehyung gave him a faint smile. “I promise to take good care of myself, Jin-hyung.”

 

_“The gate will close in five minutes.”_

 

Taehyung hugged Seokjin again, less bear-like, and bent down as his fingers grab hold of the bulging suitcase. He jogged towards the gate, and chose to side-eye his hyung, who had his expression torn. To that, Taehyung frantically mouthed a ‘goodbye’ to him, and made Seokjin rapidly wave with a grin.

 

Seokjin did that on and on, reluctantly dropped his palm right after Taehyung was finally out of sight.

  
☆☆☆  
  
Taehyung couldn't get even a millisecond of personal space that morning.  
  
The day he had beat Sarah, that fit leader with a cocky attitude but had the warmest personality, in a dance-off back at the bustling cafeteria. Most onlookers, especially the senior-year students, mentally outvoted Taehyung because Sarah would still win. Given that she had spent all her childhood years just to practise dancing.  
  
But in this rare probabilistic case for Taehyung, good luck outweighed experience.  
  
Sarah, fortunately, didn't give him the cold shoulder after he was announced the winner. She enthusiastically promoted her club, and even tried her hardest to convince him. It was because professionals like her could clearly see Taehyung's hidden potential and raw talent. Taehyung wasn't on the same page as Sarah, sadly. He refused the offer right away because he felt so overwhelmed majorly because of the sheer amount of attention given.  
  
Azza's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Are you sure? This is like, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Taehyung!"  
  
"Yeah, man! Think of the fame and fortune and girls you'll get." Hanif added, wiggling his eyebrows.  
  
Taehyung smiled and waved his hand dismissively, "I'll think about it. Besides, there are a bunch of other clubs listed and there's still a chance that I might join the other."  
  
He shifted to face Sarah, "I haven't discussed with my homeroom teacher so I haven't seen the list yet. I'm probably gonna meet up with her during lunch to talk about it."  
  
Sarah merely shrugged, then took a card out of her pocket to give it to Taehyung. "No worries. You have all the right to make your own decisions. You may need plenty of time to think about it, but just let me know right away if you reconsidered."  
  
Taehyung observed the card for a moment, "Alright. Thank you for the generous offer, Sarah."  
  
"So, can we go now? It's a quarter to half past ten." Anis murmured, but loud enough for them to hear.  
  
"That's our cue to leave. See you next time!" Taehyung exclaimed and bid farewell. He caught a glimpse of other smitten middle-school girls surrounding Sarah who were witnessing their conversation.  
  
Just as they left, Hanif scuttled over and put his arm around Taehyung's shoulders. "You have no idea of how jealous I am."  
  
"Hanif, there's no need to be envious! All I did was show off some simple moves and the next thing I know was being offered to join their club. I was lucky this time."  
  
"What I meant was, you literally got a gorgeous chick's number."  
  
Taehyung frowned, but subtly.  
  
"And, the fact that you just got here for like almost two days and gained popularity in a flash made me even more jealous! That didn't even happen to me."  
  
"Take a chill pill, Hanif." Anis spoke up and sidled next to him, "That's probably the dance club teacher's number. No need to jump into conclusions."  
  
"Plus, Sarah has a boyfriend." Azza added, crossing her arms.  
  
Hanif groaned, "Whatever. Nonetheless, I'm still proud of Taehyung because he made some amazing accomplishments in a span of two days!"  
  
"Wouldn't call them accomplishments though..." Taehyung mumbled, fiddling with his tie. "Speaking of accomplishments, I did manage to get 18 marks on the Add Maths test paper yesterday."  
  
Azza turned to him, surprised. "The 'per 20 marks' one?"  
  
He adorably grinned, "Nope. One with the 60 marks in total!"  
  
☆☆☆  
  
Ernie was sure that her assigned bus was going to leave soon.  
  
Teacher Noormala dismissed Chemistry class only two minutes late, but that didn't affect her ride home's departure at all. Since most of her juniors have hopped on the cramped vehicle much earlier, the driver was responsible to decide whether to take their leave now or later. The driver, most of the time, depended on the passengers for a brief attendance. Really convenient, but the problem was, that was where assumptions always took place.  
  
Ernie despised and often refused to ring her parents on the last minute just because the bus left her unattended. So, without giving up, she picked up the pace.  
  
She had carefully zoomed through the huddling students who were lingering nearby the jam-packed parking lot. Ernie scanned the overpopulated surroundings, and searched for that particular white bus. Not breaking eye contact with the various vehicles ahead of her, she marched down the somehow less concentrated walkway.  
  
Keyword: somehow.  
  
"Oof," said the guy whom Ernie had just bumped into, but the contradicted force wasn't strong enough to make either of them teeter. "Ah, sorry for blocking your way, Ernie."  
  
Ernie slightly panned her point of view upwards. "Eh, Taehyung... uh, still waiting for your parents to pick you up?"  
  
"I'm more like scouting for my ride home with my eyes. I had to take the bus," Taehyung replied, smiling vaguely while he was waving a signed document. "Can you be the binoculars for me? Plate licenses are similar to easter eggs in my case here."  
  
"Um, let me see," Ernie studied the badly-printed paper, squinting because of the tiny font. "Wait, that's my bus!"  
  
Taehyung suppressed a smirk, "Really? We live in the same route, then."  
  
"T-that's good, but we need to find it as soon as possible because they'll leave us behind."  
  
He cocked an eyebrow. "They would do that?"  
  
Ernie raised both. “The ones from your previous school wouldn't?”

 

Taehyung shook his head, not actually responding to the seemingly rhetorical question. “I mean... let's just carry on with what we started!”

 

Ernie saw the slight but notable trembling of his fingers. She paid close attention when the sheet started to slip off. Taehyung's expression looked like as if he was on cloud nine, though, his from-ear-to-ear beam never wavered. Ernie flinched, suddenly, when the thought of him waiting for a reply quickly came into mind. She blinked repeatedly only to see Taehyung staring back.

 

“Sorry, did you ask me something?”

 

Silence. “No, um, just making sure if you're really helping me with this.”

 

“Oh, sorry, I was distracted,” retorted Ernie, for the millionth time, and Taehyung's face transitioned into a blank one. He bursted into laughter in a flash. “What's wrong?”

 

“Ah, nothing, nothing… honestly. Apologies about that,” Taehyung sucked a lungful of breath, as he peered out at the parking lot. “Now, where were we?”

 

Ernie blinked, quite surprised. She slowly opened her mouth.

 

“Yer!”

 

She closed the gap and tried to find the familiar voice towards her left.

 

Her best friend seemed frantic when she rushed up to them. Gripping onto her tote bag tightly, Naqibah greeted Taehyung with a radiant beam. She glanced back at Ernie. “So sorry, Yer. Can't join you again.”

 

“Back-at-home issues?”

 

“Yeah, a bit more major this time. Nabih's picking me up,” Naqibah's thumb gestured to the car waiting nearby. She turned on her heel, “I'll text you about it later. See you tomorrow, guys!”

 

Seeing Naqibah waved goodbye hastily, they reciprocated and Taehyung looked at Ernie worryingly. “I hope she's gonna be fine.”

 

“She will,” Ernie responded, though her mind was filled with the similar statement. She realised a bus aforementioned was drawing near. “Hold on, that's the one!”

 

“Les’ go!” Taehyung exclaimed, and instantaneously slid the door open when the vehicle halted. He was taken aback by the numerous amount of eyes greeting them. “Um, hello!”

 

The driver stared at him with no interest of pep talking whatsoever. “Transfer student?”

 

“Yes, here's the document.” Taehyung replied, adjusting his voice so it was more professional to the driver's liking. For the sake of ‘first impressions’, too.

 

The driver studied the wrinkled paper for a moment and glanced back up with half-lidded eyes. “Judging from your name, you're not from around here, aren't you?”

 

Taehyung watched the old man's glasses that was perched on his nose slowly motioned downwards. “No, not geographically, sir.”  
  
The latter clicked his tongue, “I see. Alright, hop in you two.”

 

Taehyung hesitantly gave way for Ernie to enter first. He mirrored her crouching movements throughout his brief trek to Ernie's neighbouring empty seat. Taehyung sighed after he plopped down, and jiggled with his dog-themed keychains. The bus vibrated, which made Taehyung to look up and noticed they already were further away from the school.

 

Two awkward minutes into the ride and Taehyung was definitely bored. He laid back, plushing his head with his hands. Exhausted, he expectedly peered at Ernie, who was gazing at the greens and houses swiftly passed by.

 

Feeling the figure next to her constantly fidgeted, Ernie whipped around and witnessed that Taehyung was rubbing his eyes. “What is it, Taehyung?”

 

“Just another ‘I'm bored’ case.” Taehyung merely shrugged, then he proceeded to feel his pockets. “Oh no.”

 

Ernie gave him an expression which read the same question she asked twenty seconds ago.

 

“M-my wallet…” He muttered. Panicking, he searched through his backpack. Ernie glanced down, and caught a glimpse of a leather object near her foot.

 

She retrieved it, and was enamoured by the fine texture. “Is this the kind of wallet you're looking for?” Ernie asked, not taking eyes off the wallet.

 

Taehyung was quiet, for a prolonged moment. He then replied, “Yeah, thank you!”  He opened it and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, they're still here.”

 

Ernie realised that she was holding a small paper. “Taehyung, this fell out.”

 

Without intention, her gaze fell onto the said object. It was a group picture of Taehyung, grinning, clearly with his friends, who were cheerfully posing. The photo was snapped by a serene river, as cherry blossoms flew around them.

 

Ernie chose to observe his friends. They looked… extremely familiar. She wanted to grasp that memory, but couldn't. It was the tip on her tongue, until…

 

“W-wait. Are they…” Ernie, not confidently, pointed at his friends one by one, using her index finger. “I'm probably wrong, but are they members of EXO?”

 

“Y-yeah!” Taehyung was surprised because he didn't expect the said group to be known in this country. Well, they _are_ popular worldwide. “You know them?”

 

“I'm a huge fan honestly,” Ernie chuckled, almost too nervously, “Wow, you're lucky you took a photo with them. You've been to one of their concerts too?”

 

“I went to a few. The most vivid but spectacular experiences of my life! These guys looked ethereal in person, and you would love their off-camera personalities even more.”

 

“Wah, I'm so jealous…”

 

“Don't be, I'm one-hundred percent sure that you'll see them live someday!”

 

Ernie sighed internally. _‘If only I could make it before Xiumin enlists…’_

 

The bus rolled to a halt, and they looked outside. Ernie sprang up, then crouched, and shouldered her backpack on. “This is my stop. I'll see you tomorrow!”

 

“Hey,” Taehyung spoke up, which made Ernie pause and face his direction. “Let's chat more about them online later!”

 

“Totally.” was all Ernie replied and ended the conversation with a wave right after she slid the door close. She watched the vehicle drove away first as she thought of what kind of EXO related topic they might talk about tonight. Ernie was still beaming when she walked herself to her front door.

 

☆☆☆

 

Content and fueled with enthusiasm, Taehyung studied the picture again with a wide smile playing on his lips. Shaking their bittersweet memories off, he quickly collected his belongings and stuffed them all in his bag. He peered through the window and the bus was drawing nearer to his apartment's location. He couldn't wait to talk about what happened today with his one and only roommate…

 

The vehicle slowed down and halted several hundred metres away from his address. Blinking, Taehyung felt someone behind him got up and heard them fumbled with their necessities. After a few seconds, the person headed towards the door and slid it open. When the person stepped out, Taehyung could see the obvious imbalance of their footing.

 

_‘This guy is about to stumble head first onto the ground!’_

 

Reflexively, Taehyung reached forward and grabbed the boy's arm to tug him backwards. His body fell into Taehyung's arms, as the boy's thick ring files and textbooks fell onto the grass with loud, scattering thuds. Feeling his own eyes bulged out, Taehyung stared down to see the guy was frozen in place.

 

His eyes were squeezed shut, but reluctantly fluttered open afterwards. He gasped and cursed under his breath, setting himself free from Taehyung. “S-sorry about that… I should go --”

 

“Son, you better watch your step. Be careful next time, yeah? This boy won't always be around to save you.”

 

“Ah, I'll keep that in mind, sir...”

 

Taehyung raised his brows. “You alright?”

 

The guy, startled, but finally made eye contact with him. “I'm f-fine, thanks for that. I s-should get going.”

 

The guy stepped outside and bent down to collect his belongings. Taehyung stood up but then a hand stopped him. “It's alright, I'll deal with it myself. Just, thank you for what you did!”

 

The latter paused. “No problem.”

 

Closing the door, the vehicle had vibrated again as it moved towards the next destination. Taehyung was bewildered and quite shaken of what just went down.

 

The guy, however, was happily grinning until the bus drove out of sight. He firmly clutched onto his books as the slight blush formed on his cheeks gradually faded.

 

☆☆☆

 

“Honey, I'm home!”

 

Taehyung threw himself onto the worn out couch and it let out a squeaking noise. Setting his bags aside, his recessive hand reached for the TV remote and started to undo his tie at the same time. He sighed heavily and raked his disheveled bronze hair with his fingers.

 

“Arf!” Then, a certain ringing sound was approaching.

 

“Tannie!” He cooed. His hands tried to pick the excited puppy up and ‘restrain’ it, but it kept on running from from one side to another. “Stay still! Papa is gonna shower you with kisses.”

 

Yeontan pounced into his lap and proceeded to lick his cheeks. “Hey!” Taehyung giggled, then managed to hold Yeontan up and glared at him. “You're so joyful today.”

 

Yeontan's tongue lolled out and he tilted his head in curiosity.

 

“Ah, you must be starving.” Taehyung said, placing him down. Taehyung stood up and strolled towards the kitchen. “Come, let's have late afternoon tea.”

 

Wagging his tail, Yeontan replied with a bark as he trailed his owner from behind. Taehyung rummaged through the cabinet then poured crackers into Yeontan's bowl. He hummed as he made some ramen for himself.

 

Then, a memory crossed his mind. He paused, turning off the stove. The memory was important, and personal, but Taehyung didn't register anything.

 

Taehyung peered at the ceiling. Instead... “How am I gonna answer that one question based on the magnetic wave subtopic? Aish, should have not doze off in class…”

 

On the bedroom's side table, Taehyung's phone lit up.

 

 **_[WHATSAPP] Jiminie: Taehyung-ah~~ how have you been?_ **😚

 

☆☆☆

 

Masturina was devastated.

 

Not because of how much homework they've been receiving for this week, though. Sure, she would endlessly complain about it behind the teachers’ backs. In the end, she ended up wrapping them all up for the sake of high IQs and what not. The suggestion of ‘homework should be given in less amount’ was arguable and controversial to her, since life would be far different if that change had applied.

 

Would it go positively or negatively? Well, Masturina didn't know. Finland was doing great, but her country wouldn't…

 

Masturina shook that thought off her mind. What actually made her devastated was, the amount of comments she got. She haven't updated her fanfiction for a while, and the latest chapter left her readers on the edge of their seats. Most of the remarks she received were, well, desperate with a sulking tone. She _would_ feel the same way if one of the stories she got hooked on ended with a cliffhanger.

 

Though, would she constantly rush the author to continue on? Rarely. Wait, scratch that. Never. Masturina was currently experiencing the similar situation, and wouldn't do such a disrespectful thing to other authors. If the readers asked politely and nicely, then the comments section wouldn't be catastrophic right this moment!

 

They were going to sit for a worldwide examination in a few months time. She repeatedly addressed her readers about it, but they never stopped bragging. They wouldn't understand the pain.

 

Writer's block at its finest...

 

Masturina had finished doing her Physics and Chemistry homework early. Out of all disgusting errands or complicated assignments she would do, she still hated dealing with this. Even though she loves writing so much.

 

Masturina aggressively brushed her fingers against the keyboard. She groaned in frustration, _‘How on earth should I rephrase this sentence? Ahh, I wish my vocabulary has the same size as the universe!’_

 

“Bing!”

 

Masturina glanced at her device, and the notification she received was eye-catching.

 

 **_[WHATSAPP] Ernie:_ ** 📷 **_Photo_ **

 

**_[WHATSAPP] Ernie: I found this on Twitter. It's blurry, but I think that guy in the background is Taehyung…_ **

 

Curious, Masturina viewed the snapshot taken by Dispatch. It was clear that Chanyeol and Suho were seen walking out of the SM building at night. Zooming in, there was a figure following them. It was pitch black, but judging from the shape of its face and body posture, she could say that it really was his new classmate.

 

**_You: Are you sure that was Taehyung? How is he even related with EXO?_ **

 

**_KSM: Baekhyun liked and commented on his pictures few weeks ago, so yeah_ **

 

**_Anis: No doubt that he definitely was spamming the members so tht he would get shoutouts for the sake of attention... what a clout-chaser_**

 

**_You: … Is it hard to give Taehyung less meaner comments, Anis?_ **

 

**_Anis: Hes fooling us, so why would I?_ **

 

**_Ernie: Anyway, he told me that he went to their concerts for a few times already… and took a photo with them during their fanmeeting._ **

 

**_Anis: Bro, hes lying_ **

 

**_You: Damn, crazy rich asian... but without the crazy part_ **

 

**_Anis: Id say he is_ **

 

**_Ernie: He and EXO are friends. Thats my theory_ **

 

**_KSM: Its really rare to see a fan to be close friends with a popular group nowadays… I don't think so_ **

 

**_Anis: Finally, Sui Mei agreed with me_ **

 

**_You: Anything can happen yknow_ **

 

**_Anis: Whateverrr. Pls shut up and lemme just finish my Bio corrections._ **

 

**_You: Its literally 11PM.. what were you even doing earlier?_ **

 

**_Anis: Physics and Chem homework duhhh_ **

 

**_KSM: …_ **

 

Masturina switched her phone off and sighed. Staring intently at the bright desktop with sheer exhaustion, an enlightening idea came into her head. She widened her eyes, and the sleepiness incrementally disappeared.

 

_‘New boy with mysterious traits, huh? Now what if he's secretly associated with well-known people in his village?’_

 

Masturina began to type the hours away. Eagerly.

 

☆☆☆

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Masturina tardily raised her head. “Yeah, all good, Sab.”

 

“But you look tired! Did you eat breakfast this morning? How many hours did you sleep?”

 

“I kind of did, and only five. Minutes.”

 

She gasped, dramatically, which made Asqina immediately face in their direction. “What were you doing that made you pull an all-nighter?”

 

“Ah, just writing. Don't worry, Sab. I won't pass out. Maybe.”

 

Masturina heard intense rustling and a handful of peppermints were suddenly placed in front of her. “Chew on these if you feel like you want to sleep during lessons.”

 

“Thank,” She pocketed all of them in a hurry, somehow slowly. “You. You're the, best.”

 

Sabrina slightly nodded and carried on with her own work. Today was Thursday, but this class’ morning routines wouldn't seem to change its schedule again. Which was doing Biology corrections on the last minute. Out of nowhere, a particular teacher appeared at their door. Speaking of which.

 

“Science-One,” A usual piping but solemn voice had spoke up, and it gained the said class’ maximum attention. “Since you had Chemistry for afternoon class yesterday, you will have Biology with me later. Are you aware of that?”

 

“Yes, teacher.” They chorused.

 

“Right. So, we will have practical on Diffusion and Osmosis. Have a quick reading on that topic, because I don't want to see any low marks.”

 

They began to mutter with each other. Taehyung sat up, waiting for the next information.

 

“That's all,” Teacher Irene turned around, and stopped in her tracks. “Oh, wait. You will combine with Science-Two.”

 

They groaned in disappointment after she walked off again. Taehyung tilted his head, _‘What's wrong with working with, or against, our resoundingly nice neighbour?’_

 

“I often have the butterflies every time I can sense their presence nearby,” muttered Mei, scribbling Mathematical formulas down. “It scares me.”

 

“Don't be like that, contributing with them is considered to be a very good proficiency!” replied Sabrina in shock.

 

Curious, Taehyung searched around for his classmates’ impressions of their rivals. Judging from their expressions, obviously. It could be somehow at least illuminating!

 

Hanif was seen being absolutely thrilled when he hopped outside. Ernie and Naqibah didn't gave off some sort of reaction while they were discussing. Azza was delightedly chewing gum and altered the pages by order. Asqina was jotting down notes, and side-eyed her best friend not even with a hint of interest whatsoever. Masturina was, of course, trying to rest but not to take a nap. Anis was grumbling as she tried to find her precious limited edition mechanical pencil under the desk.

 

Amal bursted into the classroom with a puzzled face. “I saw ‘cher Irene came in just a minute ago. What did I miss?”

 

Taehyung decided to be the one who filled her with details. He wanted to see if she reacted out of the ordinary or not.

 

“We're going to have Bio practical on diffusion and osmosis later, along with Science-Two.”

 

Amal's grin went downhill but exclaimed, “Ah, cool!”

 

His classmates were frequently moping throughout registration period. With all the information that Taehyung gathered, they didn't really add up. It was morally wrong to assume someone else's personality, especially when a proper first meeting wasn't properly conducted.

 

It wasn't too late, right?

 

☆☆☆

 

“Taehyung, wanna join us for lunch?” Amal asked as her friends was lingering outside the Biology laboratory.

 

Placing his notes onto the desk, he then shook his head. “No, thank you. Just go ahead, I'll catch up with you guys. I have papers to submit!”

 

“Gotcha,” She responded, beaming. “I'll save a seat for you.”

 

“No need, I can manage on my own.”

 

“Suit yourself. Bye!” She rushed out, then sparked a conversation with Naqibah and Ernie.

 

Taehyung let out a breath of irritation when he noticed his papers weren't in order. Promptly, he rummaged through his pencil case for the stapler. Abruptly, the stationery he was looking for jumped out and dropped onto the floor. It glided towards a person's feet.

 

More unfamiliar students came in, and that was when he discovered something.

 

The guy retrieved the stapler and handed it back to Taehyung. “This is yours, right?”

 

“Yep, t-thanks!” Taehyung was somewhat queasy.

 

The guy scrunched his face, inarguably confused. He quickly grinned when he finally put all the pieces of a puzzle together. “Hold on, you're the foreign exchange student Hanif's been talking about! Kim Taehyung, is it?”

 

More of his classmates began to surround the two, which made Taehyung a little bit uneasy.

 

“Yes, that's me! And… you are?”

 

The guy happily extended his hand as his grin got wider, “Hasmi Wafi, nice to meet you.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies in advance!! because i might offend my ex colleagues and friends in this one... so proceed with caution my dearest frens!
> 
> there are probably alotta errors but saye malas mngedit bruh,, maybe tonight i edit
> 
> also sorry if this chapter's boring to you,, bc there are many fillers owo

 

“Taehyung!” Someone behind him yelled, and the brightness of that voice rang a bell. The said boy whipped around, _feeling the area around his shoulder blades ache a little bit._ Taehyung’s expression scrunched slightly but gradually tried to shrug the pain off. Needless to say he wasn’t _that_ flabbergasted to finally see this all too familiar person face to face.

 

Or in this case, _duo_.

 

They both greeted him with friendly waves and from-ear-to-ear grins, “Yah, wait up, would you?” complained Mr. bright guy. His partner was there, _obviously_ in a midst of giggling and catching his breath.

 

“Baekhyun-hyung, Junmyeon-hyung,” Taehyung responded, and narrowed his jogging speed down. “Wah, I am glad to see you guys today!”

 

“Saw you sprinting near Han River and we decided to tag along. We wanted at least a lungful of fresh air since we've been stuck in that cramped cave for centuries.” Junmyeon chuckled, somehow dryly as he clasped Baekhyun’s upper arm.

 

“Been practicing for your next comeback, huh? It will be as successful as before, I bet.” Taehyung paused. “Nah, scratch that. I _hope_ it would.”

 

“Thanks for that extra point of confidence,” Baekhyun retorted as he slung his arm around Taehyung’s shoulders, “But as for now we’re _this_ close to call it a day.”

 

Taehyung stared at the space between Baekhyun’s thumb and index finger. He let out a sharp gasp, “The _EXO I know_ wouldn’t call it quits! Where did your spirit go?”

 

“Don’t fret, Tae,” Junmyeon gave him a reassuring smile, “Baekkie was just whining about our current circumstances, though it’s _not_ as bad as you think.”

 

“Aish,” Baekhyun swatted Junmyeon’s palm away, and poised his hands on his hips. “I wasn’t grumbling about it! In fact I _was_ telling the truth.”

 

“Hm?” Taehyung blinked. “What’s going on back in your dorms? Did Kyungsoo-hyung accidentally sent off a stick of butter to the ceiling again?”

 

“Naw, this time Yeolie broke the television remote.” Baekhyun giggled, “I’d love to give you the details, but he swore he would bury me six feet under if I did.”

 

Taehyung laughed. “I guess everyone’s still as normal as before, that’s good.”

 

“Eh,” Junmyeon spoke up, “I wouldn’t use that adjective. You know, I’m the one who has to keep them all on check. If nothing out of the ordinary happened, then someone might have brainwashed my members.”

 

“But don’t you want at least an hour of jacuzzi break?”

 

“I do, but usually _you’re_ the one who gets under my damn skin.” Junmyeon deadpanned.

 

Baekhyun furrowed his brows as Taehyung cackled. “Gosh, I can’t wait!”

 

Baekhyun tilted his head as his expression grew even more complex. “For what, Tae?”

 

“To audition.” Taehyung beamed, his current mood was striking, “I want to know what it feels like to live with you guys.”

 

“That’s,” Junmyeon articulated after two seconds of silence, “That’s great, Taehyung.”

 

“I have an intense feeling that you’d get in,” Baekhyun extended his hand all of a sudden. “All the best, my good friend!”

 

☆☆☆

 

Taehyung snapped out of his trance and brought Hasmi Wafi's hand closer to his forehead.

 

“Hey, hey!” Hanif exclaimed, interrupting the action by shaking the pair's hands in a more appropriate way. “That's how you do it, Taehyung.”

 

“Really? I thought you guys would do the forehead thing.”

 

Hasmi Wafi chuckled, “Nah, that one is for the juniors embracing the seniors. You're not much older than me, are you?”

 

“Oh! Oh. My bad.”

 

“Eh, it's normal to forget what you've just learned.”

 

“It's,” Taehyung replied after two and half seconds of silence, but quirked up a radiant smile. He glanced around, “A pleasure to meet you too, Hasmi Wafi. Hanif sure loves mentioning you guys as well!”

 

“My friends call me Hasmi or Wafi, though. You can either pick one of those, I don't like complicating things in life.”

 

“I see,” Taehyung rubbed his chin, “Wafi it is!”

 

Wafi side-eyed Hanif, “Also, in case you're wondering if _he's_ been indirectly saying _nice_ things about you, well, he pretty much did.”

 

The mentioned boy had his mouth ajar.

 

“Hanif's always like that, won't stop bragging and all,” Someone beside Wafi said, and Taehyung eventually made eye contact with him. He raised his palm, “Oh, name's Helmi by the way.”

 

Another guy joined the circle and balanced his elbow on Helmi's shoulder. “Asyra at yo service.” He then made a ‘finger gun’ gesture and Taehyung chuckled in amusement.

 

The latter's gaze landed on a boy with a stoic expression, who was accompanying Wafi the whole time. He crossed his arms, “Omar. Just, Omar.”

 

Before Taehyung could say anything, he felt another one of their classmates shifted nearby. Taehyung didn't register this person's presence right away. So to say that he might have been there recently.

 

The guy offered his hand, “My name is Luqman. I'm looking forward to work with you.”

 

Taehyung somehow felt content when the latter smiled fondly.

 

“Likewise,” Taehyung shook his hand. Warm. He might have been owo’d a little bit.

 

“So Taehyung,” Asyra began, “How are you liking this school so far?”

 

He merely shrugged, “Eh, just peachy.”

 

“Really? Not complaining about the amount of assignments you get?” Helmi chuckled.

 

“It’s all good, honestly,” Taehyung waved his hand dismissively, “High school is knowingly supposed to be a burden to us. We gotta accept our fate nevertheless but we must work hard first.”

 

“Damn, inspiring speech right there!” Hanif wiped his invisible tear away, then gently patted Taehyung on the back. “Man, I should have you around twenty four seven. You’d be boosting ma level of motivation!”

 

“If he, without even doing anything, managed to help you finish off your huge stack of Biology corrections, then for the first time in a million years, I’m surprised.” Omar responded, which left Hanif in stunned silence.

 

“Anyway, wanna head down to the cafeteria and grab a bite?” Wafi suggested.

 

“Oh,” Taehyung pursed his lips. “I’m just gonna submit this first and we’ll go.”

 

“Well then, you’ll just drop it off on our way.” Wafi spoke up again, as his classmates assembled behind the two. “Let’s head out.”

 

“Imma have multiple bites in my case here!” Hanif exclaimed.

 

\---

 

“You’re having Soto? Nice choice my dude.” Helmi commented, as he was fetching cutlery for himself. “I highly recommend adding _that_ hot sauce into the broth, by the way.”

 

Taehyung cocked an eyebrow and began spooning in once, then twice, then thr--

 

“Not that much Taehyung.” Luqman said, twisting the cap of his bottle of iced lemon tea open.

 

He paused. “My head would explode if I go on?”

 

“Yeah, and you’ll lose its glorifying taste.” Asyra retorted, exchanging dollar bills with the smiley vendor.

 

“Ah wait, I forgot to p--”

 

“I got you covered,” Wafi whispered, “Don’t worry, it’s on me!”

 

Taehyung began to protest, but stopped when someone hollered at Wafi, who was urging them to sit at their table.

 

“Ayy, Wafi and the gang are here!” The guy exclaimed, and his eyes fell on Taehyung - whose hands were holding a bowl of scorching and steaming Soto. “And I finally get to meet science-one’s new recruit. Sit down, would ya?”

 

“Ah well, hello, nice to meet you!” Taehyung gave him a tiny wave and beamed radiantly. “I’m K-”

 

“Kim Taehyung, Taehyung Kim, undoubtedly,” The guy smiled fondly, “It is I, Muizz.”

 

“I’m Frira,” the boy beside him simply greeted, but his wave lasted longer than Taehyung expected.

 

The guy on Muizz’s left mumbled out, “Aniq,” while he was busy chomping down his Roti John, but afterwards he immediately voiced out, “Sorry about that, this was just extremely tasty.”

 

“That _does_ look flavourful, might want to try that next time!"

 

Aniq gave him a thumbs up. "You should, Taehyung."

 

Just then, he heard someone approaching the bench and plopped down next to Taehyung so casually. The guy flicked the cap of his bottle open and took a swig of water. He then, _lightly_ slammed the bottle onto the table and began unwrapping the plastic cover of his tuna sandwich.

 

How did Taehyung know that it was Tuna? Well he legit could smell it a few metres away.

 

Took the guy for a while to notice Taehyung’s presence. “Eh, hold on a second. You’re… science-one’s new classmate. I know it’s a late greeting, but welcome to our school.”

 

“I appreciate that,” Taehyung smiled. “And your name is…”

 

“Mizwar,” He simply stated as he was biting down his bread, “And you’re Taehyung. Of course.”

 

“Yep,” The said boy replied, popping the p. He continued on slurping his noodles. “The one and only.”

 

“Everything's running smoothly so far?”

 

“Stop pestering him, Miz,” Muizz muffled as he was munching on his frittata. “You're the first to blame if he chokes on _those_ thicc noodles.”

 

“Shut up,” Mizwar muttered, and tossed the crumpled plastic cover in Muizz’s direction. “I’m just keeping tabs.”

 

Omar, who was strolling behind Muizz, raised his hand and caught it almost too effortlessly. “You're nosy, that’s unlikely of you.”

 

“Y’all giving him bad first impressions,” Aniq mumbled, louder in volume, and dabbed his lips with the napkin he snatched from Frira's fingertips. He gaped, but the widening of his eyes indicated that he wasn't somehow seemingly shocked. “Manners matter, that's what they say.”

 

“Right, finish up your Roti Johnny Johnny Yes Papa and we'll deal with this catching up stuff later.”

 

“Heck, you're the one who fueled this burning topic here.” Muizz snapped.

 

“You're making Taehyung uncomfortable," Hanif mumbled as a matter of factly, "Y'all are spitting fire, or in this case... crumbs."

 

"Yeah, as if you haven't done that before." Wafi chimed in then he continued engulfing a spoonful of fried rice into his mouth.

 

"Guys, guys, let's just talk to the elephant in the room in a more… good way," Asyra said, setting his lunch box aside just to cross his arms. "Without further ado, why did you choose to go here, my dude?"

 

Helmi chugged down his hundred plus, "This boring school is _kind_ of unsanitary and _yet_ I'm surprised you enrolled here. Obviously not because of the crappy system, no?"

 

Taehyung chuckled, _under his breath_ , "I just wanted to, keep some distance from my home country, just for a while."

 

"Ah, travelling around the world is the best way to educate yourself. Good choice, Taehyung." Muizz reciprocated, gesturing an 'okay' sign with his hand.

 

Faintly smiling, Taehyung added, "Well, school's not too bad if you have good company. All you need is people you deeply trust, very few or more than that, no matter the amount. You just need them standing by your side."

 

The boys stayed silent for a hot minute, then Hanif's palms collided to form a series of slow claps.

 

Luqman blinked, "Hanif's wrong, because we should have you around twenty five eight."

 

"Damn, wise words, Taehyung," Aniq stated, his gaze was embedded with a sense of sympathy. "I'm going to pin that to the admin's board as the quote of the day."

 

"You'll get suspended." Omar retorted.

 

"For what? Scribbling the words in a huge comic sans font? Vandalism?"

 

"No, it's because of your ugly-ass handwriting."

 

"Don't fret man, you got all company you need here!" Mizwar gave a light smack on Taehyung's back, fingers drawing a big circle in a clockwise direction. The corner of his lips was tugged upwards, "Homework issues? Just bring your pen then come up to us whenever you feel like tearing the paper apart!"

 

"Yo, what if he got relationship issues?" Hanif spoke up, and Frira elbowed him.

 

"I believe that's my job," Asyra responded, "I can solve that. Easy peasy. Any kind - you name it, I know it!"

 

Taehyung nodded then muttered a "thanks" and glanced away. He was lost in thought because he kept repeating what Muizz just said.

 

_'It really was a good choice… but did I really make a good choice for myself?'_

 

Taehyung sighed inaudibly .He stopped swirling his soup, _to think that he might have over-stirred it,_ then went back to savouring his meal.

 

Across the table, Taehyung felt one of his colleagues he recently befriended with stared at him. Blankly, with an unreadable expression.

 

☆☆☆

 

"Alright class, settle down."

 

The sounds of grazing stools and slamming down files have came to a halt. Taehyung was seated at the front, because Teacher Irene mixed up their positions for a group project. They were about to recreate the human respiration system, using recycled objects, perhaps. Taehyung found this assignment intriguing just because straws and bottles were required. He was rather excited to save the turtles, not his marks.

 

That's progress, isn't it?

 

And so Taehyung sat there, awkwardly, with Asqina beside him - whose head was rested against her propped hand. He watched her blinked slowly for a moment, then yawned in boredom. Taehyung now glanced at his sciene-two colleagues ahead. They both seemingly have similar personalities - _judging from their facial expressions and body language._

 

Taehyung met Muizz at the canteen, of course. He was cool. Though, Taehyung had never seen _her_ before.

 

She was twirling her pilot-branded pen, which still had the price tag on - for the whole time. She stared down at the notes on breathing system. Taehyung observed that her fingers, were either busy gripping the yellow neon highlighter to mark key words. Or, also twirling it, just to pretend she was about to engage in a fight as if this lab was a marvel superhero movie setting.

 

The sound of clicking heels approaching disrupted Taehyung's people-watching activity. A tiny paper, about the size of four cadbury chocolate bar, was placed in the middle of the bench.

 

"Here," Teacher Irene said, and she shifted to stare at the whole class to state, "This paper contains a list of what should you include in your project. Presentation must be well executed, or else I'll deduct your marks."

 

Wafi raised his hand right after he huddled with his groupmates, "So when's the due date, cher?"

 

"In two weeks."

 

The said boy scribbled it down, and nudged Omar's arm.

 

"Next, next Wednesday indeed!" Hanif exclaimed, as Anis pinched the bridge of her nose in distress and mumbled, "Out of all classmates I have, my groupmate has to be you…"

 

"Let's break it down." Wafi articulated sternly, and signalled his head at Omar to pull Hanif's flailing arms down. "As I was saying, you'll do the…"

 

Taehyung felt something poking him. His field of view was now focused on that 'something'.

 

"What's the plan, leader?" Muizz grinned while his fingers endlessly flicked through the stack of sheets.

 

"Woah, take it easy on that label! I'm not... used to that."

 

"We _do_ need a representative," Muizz responded, clicking his pen. "And I'm not sure I live up to that position."

 

Asqina nodded in agreement and her expression gave off both 'this boi right' and 'me too' saying.

 

The glasses girl who might be Asqina's twin drew closer until her elbow collided with Muizz'. Side-eyeing, she muttered, loudly, "We should divide the roles, bruh."

 

"Which is what _exactly_ I’m doing here," Muizz began constructing a table on a rough paper. "This is just a draft of what we're doing, yanno, to make sure we stay on track."

 

“I see,” Taehyung tapped his chin, “Can I prepare the props?”

 

“Sure, sure do,” Muizz waved his hand, “If that’s too much on your plate, then I’ll appoint Asqina to assist you.”

 

He trailed off and face was vaguely scrunched - then bursted into laughter. He faintly hit the table several times, then regained himself in a split second. Asqina’s twin, was, snickering to the point she covered her probably flushed visage with a paper doodled with pikachus. Exchanging looks with the girl beside him, Taehyung noticed that she was holding in as well.

 

Asqina looked constipated, and Taehyung guessed he must have missed something out, or the point of Muizz’s joke didn’t hit him in the guts.

 

“Sorry about that, got carried away for a lil bit there,” Muizz replied, and because he saw Taehyung’s puzzled look, he added, “Oh, personally, the ‘professional’ trait doesn’t suit me - so I found it hilarious.”

 

“Nah, I think it’s top notch!” Taehyung responded, which made Muizz raise an eyebrow, “I mean, you need at least one person who’s serious in a group assignment. Y’know, to keep an eye out.”

 

“That’s why you wanted me to be a leader?”

 

“Er, yeah? You’d be pretty good at it, Muizz. Not all leaders have to be strict.”

 

Muizz scoffed, “Hah, alright then. Who am I kidding, it’s just a school project.” He glanced at glasses girl. “You do the talking during the presentation, Airisah.”

 

She flinched, “What the f--”

 

☆☆☆

 

_‘Today’s biology afternoon class really ended nicely.’_

 

Taehyung peered at the draft they jotted earlier. It did contain valuable information, but the empty spaces at the side was filled with Avengers sketches. Muizz kept doodling spiderwebs, and Airisah, _the girl Muizz unknowingly gave a concise introduction to him,_ drew an odd looking hammer. Teacher Irene would drop by and scold them, but the two often retorted nonchalantly.

 

Asqina was, well, _kind of inactive_ during the discussion - but at least she contributed by adding in some significant elements. Taehyung personally thought that there were too much chefs in the kitchen, but his team managed to work it out. He couldn't wait to tell his son about the fact that they were going out, just to shop at some dollar store. Taehyung _could_ find recycled objects back at his apartment, but he _definitely_ knew he didn't have functional balloons - as noted in his checklist.

 

Currently, he was strolling by the sidewalk just to wait for _that_ particular person to catch up. Speaking of which, footsteps were approaching him.

 

The speed was probably a hundred metre per second.

 

Taehyung absolutely knew that wasn't her.

 

That fast boi turned out to be Mizwar. Taehyung identified him right away not because of his signature cheekbones. It was because of the recognisable hand clasping right on top of Taehyung's left shoulder blade.

 

His fingers was massaging in a clockwise direction.

 

"Hey Taehyung! you're taking the bus right?"

 

"Mhm. Are you?"

 

Mizwar nodded, "Just realised the bus we ride on have the same plate license."

 

"You were sitting behind me for two, three whole weeks! I should've noticed."

 

"Who knows we're going to be much affiliated in the future? Now that we're busmates, I'll save a seat for you."

 

Taehyung shook his head, "I'd love to, but I made a promise with myself to chat with my classmate."

 

Mizwar climbed up the stairs, "Sounds important. Sometime?"

 

"Tomorrow, probably. I might need a hand on that past year paper. Organic chemistry confuses the heck out of me."

 

Mizwar grinned, the way his eyes glinted under the setting sun expressed a sense of exhilaration. "Deal."

 

☆☆☆

 

"If you were to ask me how was school today, it sucked."

 

"Wow, your sentence carried more than two words! And it was less inappropriate. Everyone, give a round of applause to this cranky peep for at least giving effort."

 

"Shut it, would you?"

 

"Wei, I'm your sister. I don't have a title for that."

 

" _Little_ sister."

 

She sighed in disappointment, "What is it now? School problems? Teachers? Classmates?" She realised the lengthy silence. "Ooh! Is it Taehyung? Definitely him!"

 

"Please don't bring him up, I don't have the mood for giving a response if you're going to shove his photos to my face."

 

"But you implied that you have feelings for him! We're talking about the 'L' word, aren't we?"

 

The cranky peep rose up from perching restlessly on the cozy couch to walk up towards the two-way window. The velvet curtains were instantly drawn aside. Taehyung was revealed jogging around the neighbourhood with his puppy, about a few feet from this house.

 

Someone's palpitation had increased drastically. The cranky peep smirked at the sight when Taehyung giggled witnessing Yeontan's silly actions. The latter picked up the ball and fetch it away, laughing when the puppy struggled to search for it. Taehyung kneeled down and lifted him up, whispering sweet nothings to soothe Yeontan as he returned back to his apartment.

 

"Yeah. L for a loser like you. It's more of an… 'O' word for this one, however."

 

☆☆☆

 

It was Friday and Airisah found herself on her way to Muizz's house. She kept checking her phone, _stated that it was quarter to seven,_ then inserted a set of numbers to unlock it. She planned to open the group chat Asqina made on last Wednesday night, and went through the messages sent by her teammates.

 

Airisah was _supposed_ to re-read about the project's main objectives, but the majority of her brain cells told her to cackle over the vine they referenced last night.

 

"What in the world are you snickering at? That's why you got a cold, because your thumbs kept tapping on that device!" Her mum hollered, at the driver's seat.

 

Airisah pouted then sniffled, but proceeded to lay her eyes over the messages.

 

☆☆☆

 

Asqina did expect company, but not _this_ big.

 

Frustrated yelling and fumbling game controllers flooded her ears, to the point she decides to distract herself. Which was connecting the straws together to build a mansion for those tiny people in that Studio Ghibli animated film. Not long after that Airisah joined her to manage the construction.

 

Asqina also realised the video game the boys were meddling about was the one her younger brother loved to play whenever guests weren’t around during Eid. Ah, sounds of soda cans opening and crumpling candy wrappers - topped with lavender air fresheners lingering in the atmosphere for a prolonged time. How nostalgic.

 

Metal Gear Solid wasn’t that bad. The plot, graphics, everything… were excellent, it was just that Asqina preferred a game which was less… complicated. The Uncharted trilogy and Crash Bandicoot were up in her alley, and Final Fantasy… maybe.

 

She noticed how Taehyung enthusiastically rambled on and on about how amazing Persona Five is with Frira and Omar. He honorably mentioned the previous ones too, and clearly didn’t miss out a single opportunity to bring up his game-addicted brother, Jungkook. She came to conclusions that, Taehyung was one multi-talented, multilingual and multi-fandomist boy.

 

Was that even a word? Who cares. Authors during this century loves to invent words even it doesn’t make sense to you.

 

Anyway.  

 

Mint started to fill Asqina’s nostrils as a cup of iced tea was pushed to her face. The latter hesitantly grasped it, _her fingertips were clumsy because it almost slipped - but situationally perhaps because of the condensed water on the glass._ Though, she chose to judgmentally glare at the oh so generous the person was for offering her a drink.

 

The oh so kind person saw a quite sour expression she had. “I made it, fyi. Using my blood, sweat and tears. Your welcome.”

 

“How unsanitary, but thx.” Airisah remarked. She drew a straw out of the masterpiece they made and the whole thing collapsed. “Ah, sh--”

 

Asqina took a boisterous sip, as the compliment she was about to drop didn’t match with her stoic visage. “Hey, this is pretty good.”

 

“Thanks!” Muizz shouted from across the room. He sat down cross-legged beside Aniq as they resumed Fortnite to have a rematch. It wasn’t long after the living room was flooded with their endless bickering and the other boys just observed them going down.

 

☆☆☆

 

“See ya tomorrow, izz!”

Muizz just held up a fist and Aniq laughed in response while walking towards his parents’ car.

 

“That was a more family-friendly gesture.” Airisah stated, adjusting her backpack. Another two cars showed up at his address and she got up. “That’s our cue to leave. Toodles, izz.”

 

The said boy raised a palm in reply and Taehyung saw that Asqina was trailing her from behind. She was grappling with putting on her sneakers, as her sling bag kept falling off her shoulder.

 

Taehyung was the one who caught it in time, and Asqina nodded in appreciation before standing up properly.

 

“Not going home yet?” Muizz asked after performing a signature handshake with Omar and he strolled away.

 

“Thought that you might need some company,” Taehyung beamed.

 

Muizz mirrored his expression. “Thanks, but your pup must be feeling lonely right now.”

 

“You do have a point,” Taehyung shouldered his tote bag, “I forgot to feed him his favourite snack earlier.”

 

“See, family first!” Muizz exclaimed and Taehyung went up to his porch again to give a brief hug. “Farewell, Muizz.”

 

“I’m not leaving Brunei, sheesh.”

 

Taehyung chuckled and turned around. Asqina was still there, and her mum was waiting for her.

 

He tilted his head in confusion.

 

Asqina dabbed and finally opened the car’s door to climb in.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy yalls thx for the wait, imma post next chapter after my exams (most likely in November) so please stay tuned for that hehehhedghe
> 
> Apologies for errors in this like fksksksk you can tell im rushing tho hahah will edit much much later
> 
> Sorry for many fillers lol

Searching for a gold acrylic paint was a pain in the neck, especially when you're in a cluttered and crowded dollar store.

 

Everywhere Anis went there was going to be a ball of red yarn, tangling at her ankles. Grumbling, she tried to jar it aside - and immediately held onto the almost-collapsing shelves when doing so. Anis singlehandedly prevented herself from stumbling headfirst into the floor. Though, she had to instantaneously scurry away for letting various types of mildliner pens hit the ground.

 

She began picking up the pace when retailers behind were heard grumbling. Feeling that they were chasing her tail, Anis glanced over her shoulder. The employer was flicking a young boy's head, was all she managed to see. But it looked like she was quite careless when it comes to watching her own step.  

 

Unfortunately, she missed the very first step of self protection: bracing herself.

 

"Shit!"

 

The sounds of clanging painting utensils as well as wooden pencils pierced through the store, and as Anis expected - everything went silent. The colour of embarrassment crept to her cheeks and the need to escape the aisle immediately appeared within. As her fingertips struggled to find purchase, Anis finally got a hold of herself. She hastily sat up while retrieving her belongings, then noticed something in her peripheral vision.

 

It was someone. A guy. A tall one with casual - both trendy and vintage outfit. His choice of colours really matched the atmosphere of this vibrant store. His index finger slightly pushed up his snapback, revealing his cat-like bronze eyes. He tilted his head. 

 

_'What the shit! that's a pretty good-looking dude but hell, I have to get out of here!'_

 

"Do you need a hand?"

 

_'What a weird accent…'_

 

Anis mumbled with such incoherence as she shoved her wallet into her purse, "'M fine, thanks."

 

Anis felt something collided with her toes, and yet she didn't expect to trip again. As soon as her face met with the floor, a roar of laughter broke through. Looking up, she witnessed the guy was definitely having it - and of course, Anis felt disrespected.

 

Feeling one of her veins popped, Anis shot up when he slapped his knee. She marched up to him. "Listen here you brat--"

 

Anis trailed off when the sounds of footsteps were approaching, and didn't even waste a second to skedaddle.

 

☆☆☆

 

"You did what?"

 

A deafening cackle bursted through their shared bedroom. Amanda wiped a tear away whilst catching her breath. "Wow, I have never felt this bad for my sister in my life. Nah, I found that story rather funny." 

 

"Hey, my _knees_ got bruised! and my rep got damaged! Really, not even a molecule of sympathy?!"

 

"It's still your fault though." Amanda got up from Anis' bed - and with full force, the latter attempted to tackle her sister. She snickered, "Welp, thanks for enlightening me, sis. I'm totally glad that you've opened up."

 

"You're supposed to make me feel better!"

 

Amanda swung the door open, "I don't remember that sisters have to be one hundred percent generous to each other."

 

It then closed, leaving Anis wanting to groan into her pillow. Her face collided with the soft covers, _trying to bury her nose deep so it would form a hole and swallow her up._ As a result, Anis immediately raised her head, coughing her lungs out. She was not attempting to take her own life, _but wanted to escape this horrible world anyway,_ it was just that the cloth needs to be washed again. Her eyes produced tears, and felt her nose being runny.

 

Anis sniffled, and furrowed her eyebrows. "Who am I kidding? That wasn't the worst experience I've ever had…"

 

"Yeah," a voice hollered on the other side of the door, "I am sure CCTVs aren't fully operating in the afternoon!" 

 

The voice snorted, and Anis promptly tossed a cushion towards the door. "Leave me alone, Andrew!"

 

☆☆☆

 

_'Little shit, Taehyung and his two-faced personality, think he can preserve his puppy-like charms eternally huh?!'_

 

The latter cracked up at Sabrina's dad joke. Anis' grip on her scalp was getting harder, while her hand involuntarily scribbled her tree diagram.

 

_'I will never forget what he did to me that day!'_

 

"Dude," Hanif peered over her shoulder, "You obviously spent centuries on that!"

 

"And 'Cher Irene told us to submit all remaining corrections by today…" Mei added. 

 

Naqibah chimed in, "Save the trees, Anis!"

 

Anis slammed her fist onto the desk, causing Amal beside her to jolt awake. "I don't care!"

 

Hanif pouted and shuffled away, "Looks like someone is going through that time of the month."

 

Ernie shouldered off her tote bag, "What is up with you nowadays?"

 

"Ah, you know, exam season is approaching." Masturina simply retorted, "Everyone is obviously of the mountain of duties to do, and apparently Anis is the first one who let it all out."

 

A muffled screech was heard in the background.

 

"Let's make Asqina the second." 

 

"Really, now, are you alright?" Sabrina appeared out of nowhere, she was seen clasping her palms together in concern.

 

Anis tried her best to soften her expression. "Everything is just... splendid!"

 

"Anisu-senpai, you aren't like yourself anymore," Sabrina scrunched her visage, poising her hands on her hips. "You should take a break from all... this…"

 

Sabrina gestured towards Anis' belongings. Everything was in place, everything was spruced up, everything was well-organised. The latter rubbed her eyes.

 

"And goodness, look at your eyes!"

 

"Bruh, that's a lot of layers." Masturina commented. "Very catastrophic."

 

Anis began blinking rapidly, "I can assure you that I am o--"

 

" _What,_ you'll be away for two months?!"

 

Something inside Anis shattered.

 

"Yup," Azza shrugged, "I got chosen to be a spokesperson for this junior poetry contest in Dubai."

 

"That's awesome! but… aw, we'll miss having you around."

 

Anis could even feel the pout in Taehyung's voice. Next thing she knew, the limited edition mechanical pencil she was gripping was broken into pieces.

 

She chuckled, "It's alright, just shoot me a text or two while I'm overseas. Two months aren't that long, though."

 

"A couple of messages aren't enough, I feel like a thousand times the amount is en pointè!"

 

Anis hastily grabbed a nearby pencil case, proceeding to aim it in Taehyung's direction, and--

 

"Morning, class." 'Cher Irene casually sauntered inside, having all pairs of eyes on her. "As you all know, the presentation is today. So, I hope you have prepared for it."

 

She strode away. That was surprisingly brief.

 

_'Bad timing, I guess.'_

 

"I hope she forgot about our corrections, especially that test on plant cells."

 

"I know! I drawing xylem and phloem vessels are extremely hard."

 

"Asqina, did you bring the script?" 

 

She nodded, "You can handle it."

 

"Thanks for the heads up!"

 

Anis groaned. _'This is going to be a long day.'_

 

☆☆☆

 

A high-pitched shriek was heard. 

 

"Yeh! We are in first place baby!" 

 

Hanif began doing his victory dance, which caused Omar to mumble a "right, my job here is done" and strolled back to his original desk. Wafi was there, witnessing the scene unfold and rolled his eyes. Let's not talk about Anis' current expression, because she looked like a dried raisin when Hanif started to dab.

 

"Hopefully you can keep that up by finishing your corrections, Hanif." Teacher Irene snapped, and Frira covered his mouth at that statement.

 

"So, _so_ close you guys." Muizz looked at their overall marks. The details, the accuracy, the presentation - everything. They landed at second place, and their group was only two marks behind Hanif's. "But heck, y'all did a great job!"

 

"Was it something I said?" Taehyung sunk further in his seat.

 

"I said carbon monoxide instead of oxygen," Asqina muttered, palming her face. 

 

Airisah pulled the respiratory system design towards her. "Bruh I really messed up big time, I knocked this straw off when I do that body language thingy."

 

"Good thing I have a fly's speed of reaction," Muizz responded in a monotone, "Don't worry, we made some oopsies but we managed to get through this!"

 

Taehyung gave his teammates a light beam. "Second place isn't that bad."

 

"That's the highest position I've ever claimed," Airisah muttered.

 

"You mean we."

 

☆☆☆

 

After going through informative reviews and receiving critical remarks, Biology class was finally dismissed. Taehyung, along with his classmates, swarmed through the laboratory door entrance. The two classes didn't forget to throw sarcastic insults at each other, though. Taehyung smiled, realising that they haven't had much beef with each other.

 

 _'So like_ _a sibling relationship…'_

 

A hand suddenly clasped Taehyung's back, and felt another figure brushing against his right shoulder.

 

"Taehyung," Hanif started, "What are you doing tonight?"

 

Scenes of him snapping aesthetic photos with Yeontan just to post them on his Instagram story flashed through his mind.

 

"Hurm, nothing much…"

 

Taehyung went down the memory lane and recalled about that particular science subject. This morning, he was struggling with drawing the diagrams on the whiteboard and often made errors. Teacher Noormala repeatedly gave him that glare when he only obtained a one-digit mark on that per one-hundred test.

 

"Well," Taehyung began scratching his head sheepishly, "I might need some helping hand on my Chemistry…" 

 

Luqman stopped in his tracks, making the two follow his prompt action. "I can help you with that - We're gonna have a study group at my place."

 

"What time was it again?" Hanif squinted.

 

"Around.. seven, until nine or ten." Luqman gazed at Taehyung, "I'll send you my address later."

 

The latter grinned, "Thanks, I'll be there!"

 

He later saw his own classmate, lingering at the gate, possibly waiting for someone. Taehyung noticed the girl's frequent head movements and hands were fumbling with stationeries. Unconsciously, his feet mobilised towards her.

 

"Guess I'll see ya later, Tae!" Hanif threw his signature salute, which made Taehyung laugh. Luqman's smile got wider, if his eyes weren't playing tricks.

 

The girl whom Taehyung wanted to talk to noticed the latter's presence, eventually.

 

"Oh, Taehyung!" She responded, just to make the atmosphere less awkward, "You're on the spot, and on time - but it seemed like our bus is being tardy. Again."

 

"You know what happened to him, Ernie? Or the vehicle itself is probably the problem…"

 

"Pretty sure the serious matters the driver has are minor, so it's fine." Ernie glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, look at who decided to swing by!"

 

Naqibah was seen stomping towards them as if she was a kid who didn't get a cone of ice cream. "I can't believe this, our group got last place because of accuracy marks!"

 

"Ebah, our windpipe looks like a tube - not a deformed palm tree."

 

"I realised that!" Naqibah huffed and crossed her arms, "I should've listened to my group mates."

 

"We're gonna have collaboration projects next time, so it's alright to let this one go!" Taehyung bubbled, lifting her spirits.

 

"Thanks, but," Naqibah began making wild hand gestures hovering above her Biology notes, "This subject is freaking me out. I don't think finishing up redo's is going to help upping my grade."

 

"I can help, with Hanif's help, which he got from the boys." 

 

"Ah, I could manage by myself." Naqibah raised a palm, "I'll just tap your shoulder if I really, really, really need assistance."

 

Ernie raised an eyebrow, "But right now you look literally like Bio sent you over the edge."

 

Naqibah shushed her, which made Taehyung stared at both girls inquisitively but just in time, their bus arrived at the scene. 

 

"Taehyung, I'll steal Ernie for the whole ride, if you don't mind." She continued, as hands tugged the Ernie closer. The latter swatted them away.

 

Taehyung quirked up a smile, "Ah, of course, I don't wanna bother you and your 'ladies-only' convo."

 

Nodding, the girls stepped forward. "We'll sit at the back." 

 

Just as Taehyung wanted to retort something for reassurance, he felt a palm gently massaging one of his shoulder blades. 

 

In a clockwise direction.

 

"Mizwar! I was looking for a partner to sit with."

 

"And now, I am here. What's on your mind?"

 

He made way for Taehyung to climb up the wobbly stairs, "Not much, but I wanna tell you what Yeontan did this morning."

 

"Everything Yeontan does is always interesting," Mizwar paused, his expression radiates both curiosity and anticipation. "Did he think the toilet was a sauna again?"

 

☆☆☆

 

Taehyung noticed his fingers were slightly trembling when he tried pressing the doorbell. You sure don't need sheer amount of energy yet pressure to exert when doing so. But yeah, it wasn't Taehyung's first time to go to someone's house. His guts were flipping non-stop, and he wasn't sure why.

 

_'I fed Tannie before I left, and I didn't digest caffeine earlier… but why am I shaking?!'_

 

The front door swung open much but to Taehyung's surprise, it wasn't him.

 

"Oh, hello," A much older man greeted before him, and gave Taehyung (who had his spine straightened) a fond smile, "You must be Luqman's friend, come on in! I'll lead you to the living room."

 

Taehyung bowed before toeing his sandals off, "Thank you, sir." 

 

Hesitantly strolling behind the man, Taehyung took the sight of the house's vibrant environment in. Flowers of various types implanted in pots of unique shapes which were positioned linearly in the dim hallway. He trailed his eyes up, observing the phrases written in arabic which were framed on the wall. Taehyung even lost count of how many trophies and certificates he had seen on the wooden shelves.

 

_'This man looks very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it… and wow, he looks kinda like- no, he looks exactly like-'_

 

"Didn't I tell you to do something crucial a few days ago?"

 

Taehyung was taken aback, he didn't realise the man was staring at him the entire time. "Sorry?"

 

The man brought his own fingers towards his forehead, and signalled a combing motion.

 

_'Snap, he was one of the discipline teachers who gave me a light warning about my long hair! Aish, I really did lose my brain cells.'_

 

"Y-yes, I'll have it trimmed, sir."

 

"Very well. Do cut your hair as soon as possible, or I'll shave your head bald."

 

Taehyung gulped, "I'll keep that in mind, sir."

 

He jumped as the door behind him suddenly slid open, then a calm voice broke through the uncomfortable, extending silence, "Hey Taehyung." A pause. "And, dad."

 

_'Oh.'_

 

"The guys are already here, just waiting for your presence." 

 

"R-right, uh, sorry for keeping you guys on hold. Yeontan skidded away unleashed when I planned on walking him around the neighbourhood earlier."

 

Luqman's void eyes remained indecipherable, "It's completely a-okay, Taehyung - It's not like my father's gonna give you a yellow slip and make you complete a tardiness form or something..."

 

His dad burst out laughing, "Yes... no. Alright, I think it's time for me to leave."

 

Taehyung blinked.

 

"You should, dad. This is getting awkward, you know."

 

"Your mother and I are gonna have an outdoor dinner. So, if something came up, just message me."

 

Taehyung hastily bowed when Luqman's dad did a hundred and eighty degrees turn, "Thank you for showing me the way, sir!"

 

He momentarily raised his right hand as he strolled down the other side of the hallway, "Yeah, yeah." 

 

Taehyung stopped bending over, and locked eyes with his colleague.

 

"That was utterly odd to begin with," the latter stated with sincerity. 

 

☆☆☆

 

"No, Taehyung, you divide the acid by the alkali to find the concentration present in the unknown solution." 

 

"The, limewater, which also called hydrochloric, divide by…" Taehyung trailed off when Wafi shook his head. "Hm?"

 

"Limewater's chemical compound is calcium hydroxide, Taehyung. Those with the element hydrogen in the beginning shown in this list of compounds - are classified as acids in majority."

 

"Ah…" Taehyung glanced back at his summarised Chem notepad which had Mizwar's, Luqman's, Hanif's and Muizz' handwritings scribbled all over. Taehyung scrutinised the details then popped up with a, "What?"

 

Right before Wafi opened his mouth, Omar stood up and brushed the rubber droppings away which were clinging to his trousers. "It's time for me to step in."

 

"I think it's for the better," Wafi slid his belongings aside, causing Taehyung to widen his eyes. 

 

"I'm sorry, Wafi! It's just, that, well I feel --"

 

"Is something up?" Frira asked as the rest of the boys stared at him.

 

"I just, have no idea why any of these didn't stick to my brain and I feel bad for making you guys delay doing your piling assignments and now Omar's gonna explain the solution to me but if I still don't understand I'll --"

 

"Slow down bro," Asyra placed his hand on Taehyung's shoulder. "Your brain is going into overdrive."

 

Aniq clasped Taehyung's forehead, " _And_ it's overheating."

 

"Yeah, chillax Taehyung, for a bit!" Helmi responded while arranging giant covalent structure diagrams. 

 

"But I didn't even make any progress..."

 

Luqman offered him a glass of water, "I know you feel like you're lagging behind but it's often best to take things slow."

 

Taehyung accepted it and nodded despondently. He took a sip of it and looked down afterwards.

 

"Myeeah. We've been studying for two hours straight so," Hanif dropped his neon highlighters to stretch, "It's our cue to have a break."

 

Aniq peered at the clock, "Twenty minutes until ten, y'all. Lemme lay down for a bit."

 

"Finally," Muizz pulled out his cellphone, stood up and perched onto the sofa, "Luqman, I'm gon use your wifi connection and watch Lilo and Stitch specials on Youtube."

 

"Hey 'Mar," Mizwar pointed at the separate coffee table, "Pass that Mountain Dew to me please."

 

Omar yeeted the bottle in his direction, but it knocked against Helmi's head in the process. "Shit, sorry."

 

"You still up for that festival tomorrow afternoon, Fi?"

 

"Of course, 'syra. I'm managing a slush-themed stall there, remember?"

 

"Heh, I do, but don't forget to save the blueberry one for me m'kay?"

 

Wafi scoffed, "As if."

 

Frira sauntered towards Hanif who was snuggled up in the corner. He raised an eyebrow when the latter's thumbs quickly swiped to the left. "Did I just see you close a PornHub tab on chrome?"

 

"Nooo," Hanif covered his screen defensively and pouted, "I was looking at cat clipss!"

 

Still staring down from his wool winter-themed socks to the almost empty glass, Taehyung let out a sigh. He hugged his knees against his chest and rested his forehead. Doing so, he instantly began to speculate.

 

_'How… did Jiminie do it? How did Namjoon-hyung survive all of this? How did my hyungs even get through this? They succeeded, but I don't think I can make it…'_

 

His jeans, particularly around the knee area, gradually saturated.

 

"I feel like your brain is going into overdrive again."

 

Taehyung gazed up and saw Luqman crossing his arms. "Oh, um, yes. I was thinking."

 

"Don't think, Taehyung."

 

Taehyung was hesitant to reply, "I'll try not to..."

 

He then gripped a nearby armchair to stand up properly, and strolled towards the door. "I'm going to the washroom, Luqman, I'll see you in a bit."

 

"Go ahead," was all he responded with, and not long after he felt his pocket vibrated. Luqman slid his phone out and yes, it was an incoming call. "Hello?"

 

The boys stopped in their tracks. Helmi even halted himself from pouring Mountain Dew into Asyra's glass - causing it to overflow. "Dude! The audacity!"

 

Luqman stared at Taehyung, who was curiously lingering at the entrance. "Yes, I can." He murmured, averting eye contact, "Sure, g'night."

 

"Is something wrong?" Taehyung asked when he witnessed Luqman was rushing into his direction. He squeezed through the opening and simply said to Taehyung,

 

"Come with me," and with a puzzled shrug, Taehyung tagged along and glided the door closed. 

 

Luqman poked his head back in before it closed entirely, "Don't. Touch. My phone."

 

The boys' eyes darted back to the glowing device on the coffee table. "Okayyy!" 

 

☆☆☆

 

It had been almost thirty minutes. 

 

The boys have finished packing up, and the only two things they anticipated were: for their parents to pick them up - also for Luqman to drop by and shoo them to go home along with Taehyung. 

 

Getting bored, Hanif said after a one minute long of silence, "Let's touch his phone."

 

"Dude, respect his privacy." Wafi scowled, his eyes then trailed back to the device. "On second thought, it does look tempting."

 

"If y'all touch it he won't let all of you hear a single thing from himself again," Omar stated, fingers playing with his sleeves. "Or perhaps, literally."

 

"Hm, yeah, but if we managed to access it, we get to uncover some secrets." Muizz wiggled his eyebrows.

 

Asyra narrowed his eyes, "That's just uncool." 

 

"Come on," Helmi chimed in, "He isn't hiding anything from us. Is he?"

 

"Undoubtedly, so let's… yanno…"

 

"Just," Mizwar waved his arm in front of Aniq's face to stop him from continuing his sentence, "Don't. Let me drink that Mountain Dew if nobody's gonna finish it."

 

Aniq tossed it to Mizwar, who then twisted the cap open and downed the whole bottle. "Damn, you thirsty boi."

 

Hanif stared intently at the cellphone, and let out a groan. He staggered up, "You know what, I'm gonna do it."

 

Frira saw the door was still unlatched and a figure suddenly appeared behind the dark glass, "Hanif --"

 

"Hey guys, sorry for the wait or anything," Luqman said while he strolled into the living room after he managed to let the door ajar enough. He was taken aback when his colleagues froze in their most awkward positions, "What's with that face? And why are you guys suddenly quiet?"

 

"Oho, nothin' important." Hanif smirked, causing Omar to turn away. "Where's my boy Tae?"

 

"He's..."

 

Mizwar's eyes widened and spat out his drink. "Oh, oh. Sorry, I'll clean that up. I got caught off guard."

 

"You alright?"

 

They all peered to the owner of that soothing, deep voice - and some even dramatically turned around.  Mizwar started coughing at the sight before him, and Frira covered his mouth with both hands. Asyra wolf-whistled.

 

Hanif followed, but only blew out saliva. "Holy shit, Taehyung, the ladies will swoon over that!"

 

"Wow, neat!" 

 

"A dashing gentleman, is my first impression of your new look."

 

"Nice cut."

 

"Thank you - Wafi, Aniq, Frira," Taehyung grinned, and unconsciously his fingers shakily brushed his bangs from side to side - wait, he forgot that his bangs vanished into thin air. "I'll need to get used to this though..."

 

"Man, the members back at that dance club wouldn't be able to recall their movements for that next performance again…" Hanif mumbled.

 

"And this means no more scolding from the discipline teachers!" Muizz added, throwing up his arms in joy.

 

Helmi gasped, almost too melodramatically, "Luqman, did you trim Taehyung's hair? I'm surprised that you didn't mess up this time!"

 

He glared.

 

"You actually did way better than most hairdressers out there." Omar retorted, while his eyes landed on Mizwar. "And now his face is red, but I don't wanna know why."

 

Asyra pulled his phone out to take a picture and Taehyung posed, holding up a 'V' sign over his right eye. "The last time I went to the barber's, mine didn't grow back again until after four months for some reason."

 

"Thanks, I guess." Luqman gazed back at Taehyung, whose cheeks were now full as lips stretched wide from ear to ear. "I know, you're welcome."

 

The latter spread his arms and engulfed Luqman in a bear hug.

 

☆☆☆

 

"Five, six, seven, eight," Sarah stopped for a moment to observe her team's current posture. "And one, two, three, four… Damia!"

 

The said girl stumbled head first onto the squeaky wooden gym floor. Feeling a lot of pairs of surprised eyes on her, Damia quickly straggled herself up. As her teammates went back to square one by maintaining their pole-like positions, Sarah made her way into the crowd resulting everyone else to mumble incoherently. Damia gazed down at her feet when the president few feet ahead did the regular 'crossed-arms' pose.

 

"That was the seventh time you jumbled up the compulsory steps today," Sarah sternly said, her monotone voice gave a hint of furor but it managed to hush her colleagues, "You know well that our performance for His Majesty is within two days time. Even a tiny smudge will entirely ruin the quality of the rendition. So I advise you to keep the hell up."

 

Damia stopped fumbling with her bracelets and stuttered, "Yes, I will, Sarah." 

 

The latter turned on her heel and enunciated two piercing claps which echoed off the walls, "Alright, from the top, you guys!"

 

At the front of the hall, Taehyung glanced over his shoulder and witnessed how Damia's eyes kept twitching involuntarily while gripping on her left shoulder. He wanted to walk over and ask what was wrong. Seeing Sarah standing by on the stage made her presence really intimidating, and so Taehyung reassured with himself to mind his own business.

 

"And five, six, seven, eight!"

 

☆☆☆

 

Of course, he didn't hesitate to rush towards Damia's usual position prior to the dance session.

 

"Hello, Damia!" Taehyung greeted and giving her his signature boxy grin, to which the girl mentioned to jolt up from tying her shoelaces. "Just wanted to, you know, see your current progress."

 

"Taehyung, um, hey, hi, I guess. Yes, I'm fine." Damia reached down and grabbed her duffel bag. She abruptly shielded her eyes and dashed away, "I have to go."

 

"W-wait!" Well, she didn't. Instead, Damia slammed through the door and her fading sobs were distantly heard. "Huh…"

 

"Taehyung Kim!"

 

He startled at the sudden feminine voice calling him from behind, and so Taehyung whipped around to face the girl.

 

"If it isn't the pied piper of this very high school!" She smirked, "Name's Farhanah - I'm in class Science-Two and a member of this dance club, if you haven't realised."

 

"Oh, ah, yes, I remember, you were… Sabrina's Biology groupmate for that respiratory system presentation..." Taehyung trailed off, "I'm really sorry, it's great meeting you but I gotta go and check on Damia--"

 

Farhanah stretched one of her arms out, "Hold on, don't tell me you have the hots for her."

 

Taehyung tilted his head, "Excuse me?"

 

"What I mean is, I noticed that you finally get a very tidy haircut. Your already, very handsome face is even more exposed, and recently drew a _lot_ of attention. Personally, the previous one was," She coughed, "Awfully, extremely, absurdly hideous..."

 

Taehyung blinked in realisation, and the urge to run after his distressed junior disappeared. "I have to admit, my bangs were hindering my eyesight. I'm glad someone finally reflected with my thoughts."

 

"Is that so?" Farhanah signalled her group, who were lingering near the main entrance, to come closer, "Does that mean you wanna get out of here and spend some time with us? You won't regret it..."

 

_'Hm, I saw these girls before, they're all in Science-Two… To think about it, I didn't actually have the time to get to know my neighbouring class as a whole, because for the past few months I've been sticking with my own classmates…'_

 

"Since school is over," Taehyung smiled radiantly, "Sure!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...

**Author's Note:**

> Lol dont hate me


End file.
